Issue 1 Downtime

Gemma, dressed in a training uniform sat in front of a small fire on the beach. She frowned as she contemplated the fire, flexing one ungloved hand before reaching out to shove her hand into the fire. As she expected, it didn't burn her, but something about it caused her frown to deepen.

((Open))

"What's on your mind, sis?" Said Anika's voice from behind her. She stepped up beside Gemma and sat down, giving her a nudge. "Careful, your face may stick like that."

"Hey, sis. Ignata's asleep," Gemma said, rolling her hand around in the flames like she was roasting a marshmallow.

"It's weird, isn't it? We see flames obliterate so many things, but it just flows over our skin like water. Always fascinated me," she said, sticking her own hand in the flame. "Seriously though, what's eating you?"

"Ignata's asleep," Gemma repeated. "She's never been quiet this long. I'm getting worried. I was hoping feeding her a little fire might wake her up. Kind of like coffee for dragons."

"Oh, I didn't know you meant like... Asleep asleep. That's... Strange. I'm sure you've tried to talk to her, right?" Anika looked a bit concerned herself.

"I've tried. She's still there. I can kind of hear her snoring as weird as that sounds. I didn't think we took that much out of her," she sighed.

"We? Just what happened that spurred all of this?"

Even in the fire light, it was possible to see that Gemma started blushing furiously. "Um... I flew Trev back from the pub. He had my clothes, since I was all dragony, so I snuck into my room while he came in the normal way. On the way in, Iggy and I were discussing whether he should stay the night. We'd just agreed when I tried to shift back and we both somehow ended up in the driver's seat. I... the shift back didn't quite go all the way." She fished out her phone and cycled to a picture, "I had Trev take a picture just in case it never happened again."

Anika took a look at the picture, quietly listening as Gemma told her what happened. "This has never happened before? Have you drank before when you've tried to shift back and forth?"

"Never happened before. And not a lot of opportunity to drink in a hospital. You think the alcohol had something to do with it?"

"It's a possibility. There's also the fact that you're going through a lot of different emotions now with the whole sexual thing going on." She was pretty blunt about it and not one to shy into the topic. "How long has it been since she's been asleep?"

"She went to sleep the morning after, not long after Trev left, so a day or two? As soon as she did, I was able to finish shifting back."

Anika thinks for a few moments before shrugging. "Eh. You don't need her anyway." That was a bit of a turn of opinion, strangely. "She's just been holding you back. Let her lazy ass sleep. You'll be better off without her." It was a strange thing for Anika to say, but none the less it was out there. I hope this works...

Gemma looked stunned for a moment as if she was trying to process what Anika had said. She turned her head to look at Anika, "If you say..." Her eyes started glowing and her voice took on a offended, yet sleepy tone, "And what would you know about what she needs?"

"Probably about as much as you do," Anika countered, though she knew it held no weight. She was just trying to piss her off. "What the hell is going on? You're worrying her."

"I'm sleepy. I'm not used to that much driving, much less with her sitting in my lap... or was she sitting in mine? It all kind of runs together."

"Are you being pushed too hard? You can only do so much. It's no wonder you're tired. Maybe you should ask her to consider taking it easy?"

"I don't think so? I mean, she and I don't usually see eye-to-eye like we did that night. Apparently we were both talking to Trev as well."

"Yeah that's what she said. And this is what you looked like," she said, showing Ignata the picture. "It seems to me that you too are melding. Whether or not that's a good thing or a bad thing, I have no idea just yet. But what I do know is that you guys were pretty lucky you didn't get caught. I would have figured you'd take better care of her than to risk that." Was she trying to piss her off again? "Let me talk to Gemma."

There was a brief growl followed by a "Fine." The glow in her eyes died. "You made her really mad, Sis." Gemma sounded worried.

"Well, at least she woke up," Anika said, sounding a little pissed off herself. She was worried her sister was changing, and she didn't know if it was for better or for worse. What made it even more worrying is that she didn't know her sister too well anymore to know exactly what the change could mean. "I've pissed her off before, I'll piss her off again. Doesn't make a difference to me. Just trying to find out what's going on."

"What did you mean about getting caught?"

"Well I don't think it would have been a good thing if there were reports of a dragon flying around the city. The professors may not have been happy. I know we're accepted more around here, but still. Trust me, I'm the last person that should be lecturing you about this shit, but I just worry is all. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Oh," she said. "Well, if it's any consolation I flew straight from town back to the school. And it was my choice. Iggy didn't have anything to do with it."

"You guys flew high, right? And I mean, she could have tried to stop you, couldn't she?"

"Maybe she could have? Her impulse control isn't exactly the greatest. And pretty high, but I had to be careful because of Trev."

Anika gave a nod, then smirked a bit. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," she said, pushing some stray hair back behind her ear. "I don't get to fly with someone on my back that often."

"I wasn't talking about the flying, sis," she said, nudging Gemma playfully. As worried as she was about the potential of what could be happening with Gemma, she was trying to get her to smile.

"That was fun too," she said, nudging Anika back and smiling. "And he was really sweet."

"Good. You deserve that, you know," she remarked. "Back on the topic of that...melding...thing...do you feel like there could be something more to it? Seems like there were a lot of factors that may have contributed, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Maybe? I don't know. There was a doctor who said it might be possible if my sides were ever able to integrate, but she had some concerns that such a meld might be permanent. It's apparently not unheard of."

"Well, that's...hm..." She paused for a moment. "What would you think if that happened permanently? Would you want to stop it? Or would you be alright with it?"

"I don't know. I think I might be alright with it, but it would definitely put a damper on some things."

"How so?"

"Well, it's not like I could get a normal job looking like that."

"What the fuck IS normal? You may look different, but you're a hell of a lot more 'normal' than other people out there. You go to college, you have a boyfriend, you have goals you go after. You may not be able to do certain things and all that, but would you really WANT to with all those assholes out there?"

"I don't know," Gemma said with a shrug, "You asked."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I just...want to be able to help you through this. I don't know how, though."