1x1 with sugarbird

[sugarbird]

-----Orion caught wind of Lehra's intense gaze, feeling admittedly very intimidated by it. He only just barely knew what she meant when she did that, simply telling him to get ready for their plan and eat up, but he only figured that out because Alphonse had trained Orion over many years to just do his bidding by recognizing a single glare. Usually when the wizard did that to him, it was for some pretty reason to either leave his personal space or "go to your room or else." Lehra's glare wasn't any different, it just told him to do something different. Didn't make it any less scary, though. If anything, the piercing gaze of a battle-hardened dragoness commanded his attention even more than just a mere man's. After all, this was the first time he's seen a dragon in ages. Orion lowered his eyes to the floor and nodded extremely subtly in response.

-----When they were lead into the rather large dining room that was rarely used, he noticed all of the cobwebs that were once there gone and dusted away. The room was cleared of any chairs, as they were stacked up in one far corner out of the way. He assumed Alphonse made his servants leave room for Lehra to eat at the dining table beforehand. No dragons could sit in tiny chairs such as that anyway. The table was not nearly as nice as the ones laid out in the main lobby, but it nice enough and didn't take up too much space in a room that demanded it for dragons of her size. Orion had a bit of a harder time entering the room thanks to his sheer size, but his slender frame allowed him through the door frame. This was the first time he had seen this room in at least ten years, since the doors to this place were always closed. Alphonse always loved to take certain esteemed guests back through one of the most impressive halls of the mansion to the grand dining room he regularly used. This one was pretty much abandoned.

-----The chef had struggled to carry each platter onto the table, since whatever was under the lid must've been very heavy. Once both were on there, he huffed and lifted each of the lids off the plates, revealing large hunks of meat underneath attached bones. It resembled ham, but Orion could recognize what it was a mile away. Wild boar! Some particularly big and gamey looking boar shoulders, too. It wasn't overly cooked either, he could still smell its bloodiness from being a little raw. Just how dragons liked their meat. Raw. Orion's eaten some scraps of unused raw chicken and pork before, venison being his favorite. Pretty much every meat that one could imagine, he's eaten before thanks to the scraps from the kitchen. It was garnished with some greens as well, which Orion also liked. He didn't know if Lehra did, though. "Here you are." the chef mumbled, pushing the cart back out into the lobby with a huff.

-----"Well, my dear, it is all ready for you." Alphonse chimed, planting his hands together excitedly. He turned towards Orion that sat himself beside her with a much less friendly look. "You know what to do here soon. Hurry up, guests are already showing up any minute now. Don't get used to eating like this." Orion nodded curtly, mouth watering like mad. "I'll be out there greeting guests. On my whistle, Orion, you head out there and perform. Just as usual." He walked out the dining room, leaving them both to their breakfast.

-----The drake immediately dipped his head and tore at one of the shoulders on his plate, ripping large chunks out and scarfing it down. Not even a minute into eating and he was already making a dent in his meal. The way he ate was oddly dainty, but he plucked at the meat so quickly that it was vanishing bit by bit in a flash. It was warm and chewy, and not cold like the food he was usually given. "So good--" he mumbled with a full mouth. He then turned towards Lehra while still chewing, looking to see her reaction to this food. "I'm going to be starting a show here soon.." He swallowed the piece he was working on before resuming. "Maybe that could be a good chance for you to-- work your magic."

[Bronzewing]

Lehra was't sure he understood what she was trying to say- he did give a small nod, but she wasn't sure how to interpret that. Really, he could have thought she said anything- either way, she just hoped that he understood enough to not mess something up. They couldn't communicate any longer due to the men, so they both needed to stick to their side of the plan without much room for mistakes. Besides, she didn't have anything too big to say- it wasn't like she was glaring at him to express some important detail.

The large dining room was enough for the both of them to get through- but there was still a few hints of dust and mess around the walls and in the corners. She wasn't sure whether that was a sign of constant use or disuse, and instead focused on the table. The lack of chairs and how large this room was...it was definitely set up for dragons, something that they could easily fit in. No use crowding two large dragons into a small room only to make things harder for everybody else to move around.

She wasn't sure what the meat was for a while- wild boars weren't native to her home after all. It smelled like game, such as what a deer or horse would smell like to her- but she could tell it was neither of the two. Nor was it the camels that wandered around, or the antelope herds that sometimes passed through the more grassy areas. Licking her lips, she craned her neck forward to see what they had brought for the pair of them- just the smell of the blood gained her interest. There were green plants on it, which to Lehra was a large waste, as she would be avoiding them. Why add something on the meat that wasn't meat? To make it look better? She could care less whether or not it looked nice.

She turned to the wizard, pretending to care about what he was saying before looking back down at what they had brought. It was for Orion to worry about, not for her- she had other things to do, and they all revolved around claws and a bit of murder. Licking her lips yet again in anticipation- which was easily mistaken for more food love- she prepared herself. After eating she would have the strength to do what she needed to.

Rapidly she tore at the meat, ripping at it with serrated teeth and clutching her claws deep into the shoulder. She ate fast- not messily like one would expect from a feral animal, but quick enough as if she expected somebody to fight her for the food if she took too long. There was nobody there that would challenge her for it, but old habits die hard. "Have fun with your show. I'll watch you." she said with a twitch of her tail, the meat already half gone. "I'll do a ton of practicing in the background. I want this to be a good first impression." She gave him a warm smile, and hoped he would interpret that one correctly.

[sugarbird]

-----Orion ate ravenously, eating almost at the same pace as Lehra, though not quite as fast. Since he's never had to compete for food before, he just wanted to sit back and savor this meal, since he's never had anything like this in years now. Food like this was something he's never gotten to enjoy in ages. But it was hard to savor this food when he was pressured by his master to hurry up and eat. He was wary that he could be hearing this whistle pretty much at any moment. He wanted to eat as much as he could. Both to enjoy this food, and to have energy for his underused wings.

-----When Lehra told him that she'll be watching his show, he paused briefly. So, it seems that not only will he have to be entertaining a human audience, he'd have to be entertaining a dragon one too. While this really didn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things, since she most likely wasn't going to be paying attention too much to the actual show and more to the plan at hand, he still couldn't help but feel a bit more pressure this time around. He wasn't quite sure why the fact that she'd be watching him made it just a bit more tense to him. The show wasn't going to be any different than usual. She even said she'd be "practicing" in the background. What was she going to be practicing on? Well, it was her business he supposed.

-----"O-okay." he mumbled back through a full mouth, still focused on scarfing down as much of this delicious food as he could before he was summoned. "S-sorry if this is stupid, but what do you mean by practicing?" he suddenly lowered his voice greatly when he asked that. Even if there was no one in the room with them, he still felt a bit too wary to say much in a normal voice. Alphonse already didn't want him talking to her at all, so just the mere fact that he would be talking at all raised suspicion. It was too easy to be distracted when he ate such good food, so he stopped eating momentarily to listen to her answer.

[Bronzewing]

She finished a while before she did, licking her lips quickly and kicking the plate away. It wasn't bad food, similar to the sort of thing she would find outside- although she wasn't familiar with the taste of boar. She did leave some of the more annoying greenery on the plate- out in the wild you would expect sand or some grasses on your food, but never put there intentionally. Either way, she was done with it, and there were more pressing matters to worry about than why humans thought it was necessary to ruin good meat with plants.

She didn't really plan to watch his show- she could care less about what he did, as long as the humans were entertained by it. Lehra had a strong feeling that if she was to watch it, she would just get upset over it- seeing a dragon have to jump through hoops- maybe even literally- for the entertainment of their captors. She didn't really want to see that, not at all. While he worked, she would stay quiet until it was time to strike, escape, and get out of there. That was the plan, and she would do whatever faking she needed in order to get it to work.

They were alone in the room, but she wasn't sure about the men. They would be listening somehow- and whatever she said, she would make sure it was in accord with what they would want to hear. She was watching the show. She was practicing for the show. She wanted to do a good job and make a great first impression and be like Orion and- all of that. She most definitely was not waiting for the second they loosened up on her chains- definitely not looking for her time to lunge backwards with immense speed and take them out before slipping off into the unused hallways. Any guards wouldn't expect her, and servants- if they kept quiet maybe she would let them go, although she doubted it. Even a servant would want the social standing earned by letting the wizard know his dragon got out.

"Practicing for the show!" she said with widening eyes and a louder voice than the rest of the conversation, as if she truly was excited. Maybe she was drawing this "perfect new dragon" thing out too far. "I want to make a good first impression, so I'll probably follow in your footsteps- and see what I can do while I'm out of sight." She turned to Orion, giving him a quick wink of her eye before going back to normal. Maybe he would get it, maybe not. The important thing is that the men did.

[sugarbird]

-----Oh! That's what she meant. How stupid of him. She was trying to be all discreet and clever, and here he was, blowing it for her. Well, this can still work out, and he wasn't about to ruin it a second time. Orion's ears perked up and he swallowed his bite. "Oh! Of course!" he chirped back, offering a small smile. "Well, I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job." he left it a bit ambiguous at that last sentence, trying to play along with her while also confirming that he understood. Being a bit stealthy was a big pain in the neck so far. He's never done anything like this before. Hopefully Lehra didn't think he was too pathetic so far.

-----Oh no- what if she thought he was too stupid? What if she just decided that dragging him along in the wild would be too much for her? Another waste? Another useless mouth to feed like a fledgling? And then after their escape she'd just.. leave. Orion already felt the guilt of just being so completely useless during this plan that relied so heavily on him. He's already dreading how she'll treat him once they're actually out there in the real world, fighting to survive. What if he slows her down? Well, no doubt he will. He's more so fearing the fact that she could just decide to abandon him at any moment.

-----No, he's not going to do that. He's going to prove to her that he can do this. He will try. And if he fails, she could happily leave him. And he can have comfort in knowing that he had a friend in his life. Maybe just one, and only for a little bit, but at least he finally got to talk like a normal dragon to someone else of his kind. Orion finished off his plate and licked his lips, his white face stained lightly pink from eating something bloody. And right on time did he finish, because not long after that did he hear something sharp call for him. The master's whistle.

-----"Welp. That's my cue.." Orion hummed, sighing heavily. "I'm not gonna look foreword to this. I'll get this over with." The drake turned down to face the dragoness, offering a genuine warm smile. He wanted to get one last good look at his closest friend in the world before he possibly died. After that, he turned away and walked out through the doors and hurried towards the lobby. Every acquaintance of Alphonse's was here already. The businessmen, the family members. They were all there, turning their attention towards him the moment he became visible.

-----"Before I show you the grand surprise, I'd like to introduce you once again to Orion!" the grand wizard exclaimed. Orion walked out in the open space left available in the lobby, both for his show and for the reveal of Lehra. He positioned himself neatly, holding his head up with confidence and fanning his wings out to show off their impressive scale and glittering white spots. At the master's mark, he'd be able to perform.

[Bronzewing]

Sigh. She had tried- at least he did manage to pick up on what she meant. Any more confusion and he would have said something that would blow the whole thing open. Maybe the men wouldn't have heard it- but either way, he picked up on it and it was no longer an issue. He may not be the fastest dragon, but he definitely picked stuff up after a while. She wouldn't be having any troubles with him.

Of course, there was still the issue of flight. They both needed to be able to fly- and this meal, good as it may be, might not be enough to power them for as long as they needed. Most likely, she hoped, adrenaline would kick in and they would just have to deal with exhaustion once they were out of the area and with no present danger. Of course, the humans would go after them, but without the ability to fly it would take them a while longer to catch up.

She rubbed at her jaws as the whistle sounded, examining her claws with the hint of blood still on them. She was about to rub at them again when she realized that it would be better to keep it- maybe people would mistake the blood of the guards for the blood of her earlier meal and leave her alone. That was unlikely but it would be at least a best case scenario, and so she decided to keep it there. Turning her head to look in the direction of the noise, she guessed that was some sort of call for them- and Orion confirmed that right after.

"Have fun out there. I'll wait until they call me out." she said, returning his warm smile with a toothy one of her own. He was a good partner- and she really didn't expect to get a partner once she was captured. To Lehra, that was it, and there would be no chance of escape- but this was such a good turn of events! There was an actual, actual chance that they could get out of here and do something real with their lives! The desert was off limits since they would go looking for her there, but at least she wasn't stuck in here, laying in cellars and doing shows for entertainment.

She waited for them to show her where she would be staying- she doubted they wanted her to follow Orion if she was meant to be a final show.

[sugarbird]

-----As Orion was awaiting the signal, he had to try his hardest not to let his excitement overcome him. His legs were almost shivering out of anticipation for the escape that was to come. He was greatly worried about showing any imperfections during the show, since he knew full well that Alphonse would notice. He never paid attention to the dragon any other moment of his life, but during shows, it was like he suddenly had a very sharp eye on his every movement. And any little movement he did wrong was cause to be worried. Alphonse wouldn't do anything during the gathering, anyway, but Orion usually got a stern lecturing afterwards for doing some tiny thing wrong. "Your posture was off." "Your wings were spread too far." "You should've been a little more to the left during that part." "You possibly made me look like a fool."

-----"I welcome you all to this year's first gathering!" With that, the wizard snapped his fingers loudly. Orion absolutely hated it- his ears were always sensitive to that part. In response, he bowed his head deeply at the audience as a greeting before turning back up. First thing he did was inhale deeply until his lungs couldn't hold more air, and then slowly exhaled a steam of white mist. Orion knew this trick a long time. What he did here was breathe out the moisture of his body to use. Since there were no other sources of water around, he had to do this. Certain water dragons could sometimes even make their own water if they were skilled enough- but Orion did not know how to do this.

-----He stood up on his hind haunches and used his front feet to warp the mist he summoned into a manageable shape. His bird digits trapped the mist in the palms they were attached to, and the mist was turned bitterly cold, almost as cold as ice. Afterwards he suddenly splayed his palms out to release the mist again. Instead of disappearing into white puffs of steam in the air, they shot upwards out of his grip and made the illusion of tiny fireworks flying upward and eventually exploding at a certain point. His magic allowed him to manipulate the way the water moved. He had to admit, this beginning part of the show was always the most fun. He loved manipulating water into looking like something else. The word "welcome" materialized above him, sprawling out and eventually dissipating in the air. The response to this trick was always the same every year, which was amazement from the audience.

[Bronzewing]

She watched the show for a short while- listening to the wizard open up the show, watching Orion step up to start whatever it was that he did. This year's FIRST gathering- how many did the wizard have a year? Whenever they got bored? Whenever they felt like bringing people in? Whenever they felt like watching a dragon do silly stuff for the amusement of people?! While the more the better for the escapes, it sounded horrible to be living here and be subjected to this every so often. That was no fun at all.

Eventually they wouldn't really think she was such a novelty...maybe there were less people during a normal gathering, and people just wanted to see her. Well, they wouldn't be getting what they asked for. She didn't plan to show off at all to these people, and they could stay there and rot waiting for her forever if they so wished. She could care less about them, even less so due to them being family of the wizard.

She watched Orion once he came on stage- she hadn't realized he was a water dragon. She wondered where he got the water for his tricks- maybe from the air, maybe from his own body. Heating up scales was a lot easier than getting water out of nowhere. She turned away, looking at the guards. They kept their eyes firmly on her- it wasn't yet time for her to break away, then. Besides, it had only just started. She could wait a little longer- but only a short time longer. She didn't want to get cold feet and never do it- oh no, this has to happen now and as soon as possible and all that.

She sat pretty, acting all tame and nice, watching the show and looking around with fake interest on her face. She tried not to look at Orion as much as possible- it was horrifying, and she didn't want to see what the men made a good, self respecting dragon do! She would just feign interest, wait for something to happen, and then- once they relaxed themselves- attack.

[sugarbird]

-----After the little introduction to the show, Orion and Alphonse simultaneously dipped their heads in thanks to the applause. This all went down like clockwork so far. Even though his body was laser focused on perfecting the upcoming show, his head was clouded with thoughts of the escape. He admitted to himself that this was very difficult; trying to focus on keeping the people's attention with an eye-catching show, and trying to find the appropriate window to leave the scene and search for Lehra.

-----After the clapping ended, Orion blinked suddenly and got his head back in the game. Alphonse chanted a little spell to himself while waving his hands, summoning a small ball of water between them. Instead of creating his own water, the wizard used moisture from the air to make a small floating puddle of water. With a flick of his hand, he tossed the ball towards Orion's way. Being so distracted with Lehra caused his reaction to delay somewhat, but his reflexes still allowed him to swoop the water ball up onto his nose before it fell onto the floor. If Alphonse was still going to keep Orion captive after this, then he was for sure going to get a scolding for messing that up.

-----Like a seal balancing a ball on its nose, Orion did the same with the water ball. Upon contact with his muzzle, he immediately froze it into a hardened solid, allowing him to balance it more easily. He bounced it up into the air with a nudge of his nose and hitting it back up with a flick of his long tail. He essentially juggled this ice ball and prevented it from crashing on the floor. He did this several times as planned before shooting it up even higher into the air with one last bump of his nose. The ice ball suddenly melted once it reached its peak, and Orion quickly froze it a second time. This time, it came in the form of gentle snow, falling like feathers.

-----The crowd began clapping and shouting again, piercing his ears. Orion always hated doing the shows particularly for this reason. Well of course he hated being bossed around and humiliated for the sake of entertaining rich folk, but the shrill cries and deafeningly loud applause that rang through the lobby with slight reverb really made him squint and pin his ears back. His sensitive hearing really made the applause unbearable. This part really couldn't be helped, but of course, Alphonse would typically scold him for doing so. No one seemed to notice Lehra yet. No one, except the door guards. Orion didn't know that yet, as he was not in the correct angle to actually see the guards from where he was standing. But he hoped that Lehra would deal with them silently. Or better yet, during a time where the crowd was roaring with cheers and claps. Oh, he couldn't wait. He was deathly afraid, but also so, so ready.

[Bronzewing]

She watched them, keeping her eyes on the guards. They were also getting distracted with the show- she wasn't sure why, as a dragon they've seen perform a billion times wouldn't be more interesting than something like her, would they? Either way, despite her vanity she didn't mind them looking away. She kept still, tame like a common dog, waiting for them to loosen the ropes just a little bit. The one holding the rope around her head loosened their grasp for a moment, but tightened it a second later once they realized their mistake. That was a good sign. They would slip up again, and that was when she would strike. The others seemed on the brink of calm too.

The water ball- she had never seen a seal, but she guessed magic was keeping the thing up. Not that impressive if he wasn't the one doing it, but the audience was eating it up. His little slip up didn't register in her eyes- she had never seen the actual thing, and so wouldn't be aware of any small issues. It did make her wonder, however, what they wanted her to do- of course, if she had actually been doing the show. She hadn't been told anything- would she just sit up there and do a few things? Would her very presence be what made the audience go mad?

The guards readjusted their hands. She then realized that they weren't used to holding onto anything living and wild like her- they probably just watched the doors or made sure no hooligans were causing trouble. Maybe they were royal guards, but she was an absolutely new sort of thing, and she doubted the dragon-killing guards were the ones holding her. If they were, well, she didn't care there anyway. She would still find a way to get the jump on them. Maybe a few more moments...once she got the idea that the show was reaching its middle point, or at least Orion's part was, she would twist her head away...

They didn't seem to expect a thing. She had a feeling that they didn't normally watch the shows this close- maybe they were in the back, maybe by the doors where they could only hear. This was good.

She only hoped that if something happened, they would think it was part of the show. Maybe they would think "epic dragon escape" was part of it and only realize once it was too late? Either way, her plan was to get loose, attack before they managed to say anything, and rush out of there. Maybe in the chaos- no, no, step one is first. Get step one done.