Whistling to the Sky || ZAK

Jayden was fully prepared for this.

If by "fully" he meant "hey, at least I tried eating a lot yesterday and I just ate breakfast, so I should be able to get at least a few feet off of the ground."

Well, it was a start, anyways.

Jayden stretched his wings, erring on the aide of caution for now.  He could feel the tender muscles working themselves into awakening, and he closed his eyes to allow the fresh morning air to dew against his skin.  The sun had just broken the horizon, so the sky was still colored a brilliantly dull grey, and the mild weather lately was a welcome change to the previous season when he almost completely neglected his flying practice so he could stay swaddled in blankets in his dorm with a cup of tea and honey.

He breathed deeply, smiling as the cool air hit his lungs, and lifted his arms above his head in a large stretch that sent him onto his toes to work his entire body.  He enjoyed the mornings more than anything, especially since he could listen to the other birds singing their happy morning tunes and chattering among themselves.

"And here goes," he muttered, squatting down and touching his lithe fingers to the ground.  He broke into a sprint, bare chest taking a full blast of chilled air as he rushed through the grass and bare feet hardly touching the ground.  It only took a few feet for him to feel confident enough to give his wings one mighty flap before pushing off from the grassy meadow and sending himself into the air.  The motions were second nature by now, but with each second spend in the morning sky, he could already feel his body wearing out.  The winter months hadn't been too kind to him, especially since he didn't stretch his wings more than necessary in the colder days to conserve energy.

"Tch."  He kept in the air for as long as possible, gliding up quite far before allowing himself to fall back down gracefully, landing on the grass again with a soft pat from the earth.

A small smile formed on his lips.  It wasn't bad considering that it had been at least a month and a half since he even thought about flitting around the school.  His goal was to fly over the grounds to survey the area every day, right?  He caught his breath and beamed up at the buildings.  It wouldn't be long before he could do it comfortably... if he could keep this sort of training up.

     After another near-sleepless night, Zak had decided to get outside for once- he hadn't spent time alone in the forest or meadow for weeks, it felt like, most of his free time spent either in his room alone or out with Sheridan. So, when his 8:00 alarm stirred his concentration away from his journal, Zak made some tea, wrote a quick note to slide under Sheridan's door, and then left. 

     The walk was calm and quiet- he sipped languidly at his thermos as he quietly escaped the school's building, hoping to not awake anyone. As he felt the click of the door closing behind him, Zak felt a certain level of relief- although he was perfectly allowed to leave the school, it felt so strange and forbidden being on his own outside after spending so much time with his partner. He yawned and stretched in the cool, fresh air, listening in to the humming and squeaking of morning birds in the distance. He focused on their short sentences and halted communications as he walked, ocasionally returning calls and asking about the world around. 

     After an hour or so of roaming, weaving his way in and out of the forest, he eventually found himself in Foresta's meadow and seated himself on its outskirts, leaning on a tree as he took a long drink of his thermos, nearly half-empty. He made a few more calls, enjoying the simple conversations that the birds had with him, before he watched a giant winged boy lift off into the air. With a certain level of shock, momentarily having forgotten, that he was on an island inhabited with loads of animal-human hybrids and other sorts, he watched as the person lifted into the air and flew for a few moments. Setting his thermos down and standing up to watch, hand over his eyes to shield the barely clouded-over sun, he watched as the person let themselves glide back down, landing softly in the long, green grass.

     He considered calling for them, feeling strange watching someone secretly from afar, but held back, biting his lip and sitting back down between the roots of the tree. The wind blew at his curly hair, pushing a few locs into his nostrils, and he sneezed rather audibly. Nervously, he pressed himself close against the bark.

The smile was stripped from Jayden's face as soon as he heard a sneeze.

He popped up quickly, flinching back and scanning around the immediate vicinity until his brown eyes landed on a wide-eyed boy meekly pressing himself against one of the many trees in the dense forest around them.  Instantly, Jayden's cheeks colored themselves a deep pink, and he scuttled over to where he had left a small pile of his belongings.  He fished up a tattered white shirt to slip on.  This poor piece of clothing had seen many better days before he had gotten his hands on it; now, it was merely a scrap of cloth that barely covered the front half of his torso.  The back was bare from the shoulders down, and the ruined ends of the fabric wafted carelessly with his every motion.  He didn't mind his feet being messy for a first introduction, but he was already entirely embarrassed that he had been seen shirtless by another student.

He swallowed back nervousness and took a swig of water before glancing over to see if the other was still there.  His body was pumping quickly with adrenaline from exercise already, and because the stranger was still here, it must have meant that he was at least interested in talking to Jayden, right?  Otherwise, he would have left by now.

Nervously, Jayden took his bottle in hand and fidgeted with the label.  Would it be too direct to just walk over and say hello?  He would have definitely preferred if the other introduced himself first, but judging from his current state, Jayden could only suppose that this boy was even more introverted than the jay himself.  He took a deep breath and forced himself over towards the tree line, only looking up as he approached an arm's length of distance.  "Ah... hello," he said awkwardly, a smile twitching onto his thin lips.  "Sorry if you wanted to use this field. I-I wasn't going to be here long, but it's definitely free to use now."  He gave a gentle laugh, then extended a hand.  "My name is Jayden Wright.  I'm a junior, and I'm in Lyra."

     Zak pressed himself further against the tree as the boy approached him, sliding up to his feet once he had grabbed his thermos. The sound of thin bark cracking off the birch tree behind him filled the air as he rose, thin, curled strips of white now clinging to his green long-sleeved shirt. He bit his lip, face turning a light pink, and waved hesitantly. He felt like an idiot. 

     "U-um, hello. Sorry for watching you, I was just on a walk and I, uh, h-happened upon you," he explained, speaking rapidly until he reached the last three words. As the other boy- Jayden, his name was- extended his hand, he peeled himself off the tree and moved to shake it. "So, um, s-sorry about that. I was just on a walk." He gave a firm shake, squaring his shoulders, remembering that as the new House Leader he needed to stop being a bumbling idiot. He nodded and offered a smile, face fading back to its regular pale tan-yellow. "I'm Zakarie Crowe. Most call me Zak." He straightened further up, patting his sleeves in an attempt to get some of the bark off. "I'm, uh, the House Leader of Pyxis, so I assume you're not in our house. It's nice to meet you." 

     He gripped his thermos, knuckles turning white, recalling what he had seen before his anxiety struck. "You fly very... gracefully. It's always interesting to see a bird's flight brought to such a large scale." He listened to the sounds of all the birds surrounding the meadow- some chickadees, a number of finches, a single jay, a pair of ravens, and a crow, who he assumed to be Solis following him. The assault of a woodpecker sounded in the distance, too. "The birds seem to like watching as well. It sounds like you have an audience."