Log. Thursday 8 May or something -- we made time fuzzy so I'm not sure! Xavier's, Medbay.

<XI> Basement: Medbay
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 The Medbay of the institute are several tables and beds for the different patients to lay in and rest. Several machines ready to diagnose and test patients, the linoleum floor stays perfectly clean and the blue accented cabinets bring some color into this normally cold and hard looking room. The cabinets are filled with several medicines and such, though should students come in, the only thing that is unlocked is the over the ounter med dwawer, any of the real medicine is under lock and key.

It's been a bad, hairy couple of days. Warren's been in a coma and /things/ have been going on. The first twelve hours or so had been the worst ... Warren had flatlined for a few moments early on, and then there'd been something that bore a remarkable resemblance to seizures, but hadn't been. Tests proved it was a secondary mutation kicking in ... at a /damn/ good time, as the secondary mutation seemed to be a healing factor. But Warren remained down and out, as the healing had a LOT of damage to fix. Multiple broken bones and internal bruising and cuts and gouges. Now, a little over 48 hours since the attack, the broken bones have knit, and the soft tissue damage is fixing itself, though not entirely fixed yet. The heart monitor and other equipment started picking up increased activity about ten minutes ago. Seems like Warren might wake up soon.

Jackson may have disappeared from the mansion over a month ago, but upon hearing of Angel's injuries he rushed back as fast as he could, planting himself at Warren's beside and Lord help anyone who attempted to pull him away. The teenager has -- likely not really slept since his arrival, though you'd not be able to tell from looking at him; it's amazing what a little touch of illusion can do to cover the shadowed eyes and unhealthy pallor of the past few days. Curled up in baggy jeans and a baggier sweatshirt in a chair by Angel's side, he sits with his sketchpad, quietly at work though his eyes flicker constantly from the page to the man lying in the bed. At the increased activity from the heart monitor, he perks up, too, blue eyes darting from equipment to Warren's face, brightly hopeful; his charcoal is set down, and all his attention is on Angel. One hand lifts to cross himself, lips barely moving with silent prayers. They are far from the first prayers he's said, the past few days.

Someone managed to drag Cole out of the medbay to get some food eariler because she's been worrying herself sick since she'd gotten here and first seen Warren in his condition. Along with Jackson, she's stayed at Angel's bedside nearly all the time, except without his stamina so at least there were times she'd gotten a little sleep. Still, one can't say she looks all that great herself. She strangles back in, going over to plop down in a chair next to Jackson's. She curls her knees to her chest, the stuffed animal, Puffball popple clung to her, as always. Heavily bitten down nails start to get another round of nibbling.

Jafari hadn't been paying much attention to news that anyone was hurt or nothing. He'd, in fact, been away for a while, in Montreal. Little sisters had to be taken care of sometimes, after all. "Where's the Doc?" He says, while looking down at his hand, not paying attention to the rest of the room just yet. "Dang electric burns. I thought I'd stopped getting these." He mutters to himself. When he looks up, though, he notices Jackson sitting beside a bed...and Warren on the bed. He frowns, the electric burn on his hand pushed out of his mind for the moment, despite the fact that the unburned one continues to subconsciously rub it. He approaches the bed slowly. "Hey." He says, standing behind Jackson and Cole.

Ow. Sound and light start to filter into Warren's mind as he gets dragged back to consciousness. Ok, he'd obviously gotten his ass kicked at some point. The fact he was /waking up/ made him wince mentally. Shit. Probably had to have a damn surgery. Shit. What the HELL had happened? And then, even as memory started to filter in ... oh /crap/. Cole. His eyes snap open and he starts to sit up, but doesn't get more than about an inch off the bed before he lays back down. "Ouch." But that had been enough for him to get a gander at the gathering at his bedside. Jackson? Damn. He must've been in pretty sorry shape to drag Jackson back to the mansion. But then ... four metal tentacles. Yeah. That'd about do it.

Jackson looks up as Cole enters, nearly as much worry flickering across his expression for her as he has for Angel. "His monitor's sped up," he informs her, words dragging with exhaustion but tinged with hope, for all that. "That's -- I think that's good." His only response to Jafari when the boy enters is a slight nod, but he sits up ramrod-straight as Angel's eyes open, a relieved sigh rushing out. "OhmygoshMisterWorthington." But he is the /picture/ of self-restraint, honest! -- he does /not/ smother the man with a hug, though from his fidgeting, it is taking a lot of control not to do so. His eyes look dry, but his voice is choked with emotion. "You're -- thank God -- we've been -- I was -- /hi/."

Cole tilts her head upward to look at Jafari, "Hi--" Any explaination is cut off by Warren making a sound. Cole jumps to her feet, half tripped over the seat. "Dad!" Cole is not bound by restraint, like, at all. After picking herself back up she hurries over to Warren's bed, throwing one Puffball-handed arm around him. "You're awake! Thank you, thank you God so much!" She hugs with happy tears rolling down her cheeks.

Jafari looks at Warren. "Hey, man. You don't look so good, man." He says, half-joking, half-serious. He puts a hand on Jackson's shoulder. "Take a deep breath man. Take a couple. In and out. Deep breath in, deep breath out." He nods. He looks between Cole and Warren and Jackson, but quiets up again. Doesn't say anything to the mention of thanking God, though. He only has a slightly thanking of anything like God ever. Sure, he was raised in a church, though. "Well, I guess it's good that you're awake, man."

Warren manages to wrap an arm around Cole, though it's more reflex than him wanting it to happen ... he's still sore enough that his body's not keen on moving too much. "Hey." He says softly, voice rather hoarse. He makes a face, and then glances at Jafari. "Could use a drink." He grumbles, before he half-growls at Jackson. "Get over here and hug me before you vibrate off the chair, Jackson."

"I'm breathing," Jackson assures Jafari, "I just -- been so --" He does not finish his sentence. Instead he launches himself out of his seat at Warren's invitation, claiming the side of him that Cole is not occupying; despite this enthusiasm he remembers to be gentle in his hugging. "Thank God," he whispers again, and despite his eyes /looking/ dry, his cheeks are distinctly damp where they press briefly against Angel's shoulder. Illusion can only go so far towards hiding. "-- I should get you water," he mumbles, though he doesn't quite seem willing to let go just yet.

Cole smiles over to Jackson as he joins in the cuddling. She stretches her hand over to however much of Jax that she can touch with her fingers to include him in the hug. "We stayed here all the time Warren. Are you okay? I was so scared and worried. You've been here for days and I thought I we were going to lose you." She blurts out in one breath.

Jafari nods at Warren. "Yeah, of course, sir. Right away." Instead of bothering to look around to see if there was any water here in the Medbay, he sticks his hand in the closest thing connected to the main power line and he disappears. Within a very short minute or two, he reappears with a glass of water in his hand. Sure, it might be dangerous to carry a glass of water in electricity is bad, but he doesn't care. "Here you are, sir." He says, holding the water and waiting for Warren to be ready to have it.

Warren takes the water and drinks about half of it before he puts it aside. It at least gives him a chance to think ... because something is /seriously/ hinky here. "How long've I been out?" He wants to know, wrapping the now free arm around Jackson and giving him a hug along with Cole. Yeah. Something is going on here.

"Days, now." Jackson shifts his arm to wrap around Cole, too, and flashes her a smile in return. "I just been praying so hard," he says, the worry in his tone backing up what Cole expresses. "I know lately I ain't been -- but it doesn't mean I don't -- I mean. I." He blushes, taking a shaky breath. "Care about you. We've all been -- m'just really glad you're -- you're gonna be okay now, right? I mean you were so close to -- we thought -- but then you -- you're gonna be okay." The second time, it is more statement than question.

Cole nods along with Jackson's stamerings. That's all pretty much her sentiments too and for now, she's content enough to just stay snuggled up while Warren gets his answers.

Jafari smiles slightly. Jackson always seems to have problems expressing himself when he's worried or really relieved about something. "I think what he's trying to say, sir, is that he was really worried about you and that he's glad that you didn't die." He nods.

"A couple of days?" This only seems to increase Warren's bewilderment. "Not that I'm bitching ... but I feel better than I really ought to." He frowns. The only place he /does/ have a cast is his left leg. (broken thigh bone). Wierd shit.

"Well, you -- kind of -- sort of maybe fixed yourself a lot." Jackson explains, somewhat awkwardly. "I mean -- a lot of the -- healing. Your mutation -- I think God was looking out for you."

Cole nods solemly again to the explaination given. "Yeah. You look a so much better already. At first it was..." her voice cracks a little, "really bad."

Jafari just stands back for a moment. Really, this isn't a moment for him. Not really. Those two were really worried. Who is he to impede on their happiness that he's awake?

"Wierd." Warren says, mind not instantly jumping to 'healing factor' for rather understandable reasons. "I should really be up to my neck in casts, but like I said, not complaining." He huffs out a breath. "Sorry I scared the two of you so bad." Then he eyes Jackson. "Though if I'd known this is what it'd take to get you out of hiding, I'dve faked something like this a lot sooner."

"Maybe weird. Maybe but -- but lots of people get -- secondary mutations or -- their mutations grow or change or things, right? I'm just glad. That you're still here." Jackson leans in to kiss Warren lightly on the forehead before finally pulling back and returning to his seat at the bed's side. "I came the second I heard -- but don't scare me like that again!"

Cole gives Warren the evil-eye-of-doom that women can give, even at 12 years old. "Don't joke about that stuff. You will not!" Huff and then she goes back to cuddling.

Jafari smiles slightly at the little group. "Well, it seems like you're getting better, man. So there's no reason for anybody to worry, right?" He furrows his brow at Jackson. "Why were you hiding man? I mean, I know I was gone for a while, but I didn't think I was gone for /that/ long!"

Warren eyed Jackson. "Don't you scare /us/ like that again, and you have a deal." He shot back, blinking a bit at the kiss. He glances over at Cole. "All right, I won't." Then, to Jafari. "That's something I'd like to know myself."

"M'sorry, sir," Jackson says, head bowing sheepishly. "I just --" His head shakes. He does not want to answer Jafari's question! And so he changes the subject -- "I should call Miss Sunset, I'm sure she's been worried too." /Someone/, it seems, is out of the loop.

Jafari frowns at Jackson. "Jackson? Don't you go about avoiding my question none. We want to know. Sunset can find out soon."

Warren flinches at the mention of Sunset and sighs. Damn. He /really/ doesn't want to be the one to break the news, but it looks like he's going to have to. "Ummm ... guys? About Sunset ... " Damnit. "She was killed the other day. Car wreck."

Jackson cringes back into his chair, the motion as abrupt as if he'd just been punched. The illusions that kept him looking bright and healthy drop, with the sudden shock; face pale, eyes shadowed, form dangerously thin, and his eyes narrow on Warren. The light in the room trembles, and his voice trembles just as much along with it. "-- That's -- that's not funny, sir."

Cole sits up, staring down at Warren. She hadn't known about it either. "What? Oh...oh no. But..." She voices catches for a moment before she's able to finish her question every so quitely, ",what about the baby?"

Jafari stops there. This time it's time for him to take deep breaths in. "Okay. Dead...dead. Okay." He shakes his head.

"Wish to god I was kidding, Jackson, but I'm not. 'swhy I was out, that night. I was more'n a bit upset, and went for a flight. Wasn't watching where I was going, and damn near flew /into/ Octavius." Warren flinches at the memory, then glances at Cole before shaking his head sadly.

"No but -- she's -- we made pancakes -- it was -- she can't -- she's not --" Jackson was already pale; he has somehow managed to become even paler. The light flickers again. He is stubbornly disbelieving. He slips his cellphone out of his pocket, scrolls through to find Sunset's number, rocks back and forth in his chair as he dials it. There is, predictably, no answer. Jackson keeps the phone held to his ear. Just in case.

Cole squeaks a sound before anything else can come out and words are tangled up in her throat. Her hands cup over her mouth before they lower again, one just hovering to make the sign of the cross before she lays her head back, gently onto Warren's chest. Her body shakes a little with quiet sobs.

Jafari shakes his head again. He didn't really know Sunset. But he wouldn't've been as effected regardless. He just...wouldn't've. He places one hand on one of Jackson's shoulders and with the other one he puts gently tries to push Jackson's arm down. The one that's holding the phone. "Jackson...Sunset won't answer. Just put it down."

Jafari beats Warren to his comment, so he just pats whatever part of Jackson is closest sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Jackson." He hugs Cole closer. "Been a hell of a shitty week, hasn't it?"

Jackson /jerks/ away from Jafari's touch with a sudden breath that hisses out between clenched teeth; he gets to his feet with motion abrupt enough to send his chair skittering backwards. The light stops flickering, but only because it is coalescing around his form; the teenager himself is shaking now, though, even as he glows bright. The only casualty is the cellphone, fried in his hand by a brief discharge of energy; twisted and melted plastic falls from his fingers to the floor. Jackson doesn't speak, and he doesn't cry. He just stares down at the ground, numb and unblinking.

Cole doesn't look over at Jackson but the sound of his his and the chair raking along the floor as it's pushed backward is enough to get the point. She snuggles closer into Warren.

Jafari jumps back only slightly, going into a slightly defensive posture. He relaxes only slightly, though, as Jackson just stands there, but he stays on alert, though. "Jackson. Stop." He says in a calm voice. "No about of anger will change this. No outbursts of light will let you bring her back."

"Jackson ... " Warren tries to sit up a second time, and is marginally more successful, even cuddling Cole as he is. "C'mere."

Jackson's head lifts, and the look he gives Jafari is utterly bewildered and disbelieving. He does not bother to answer. He takes a step backwards, and then a step towards Warren, but he doesn't come closer, holding up his brightly -- dangerously, the light burning hot -- glowing hands as mute explanation. No touching. His breathing is ragged and gasping. "I -- I need to -- she can't -- I --" His head shakes. He looks very lost.

Cole sits up as Warren does, but remains mousishly quiet and still very close to Warren. With a sniffle she looks toward Jackson and his glowing hands, but otherwise, she just clings to both Angel and Puffball for a sense of security in this mass of insanity.

Jafari sighs. "Jackson..." He says slowly. "Concentrate." He thinks through his brain. What'd he do with his sister when her powers started acting up and she couldn't control them, again? Oh, what a time to have a mind block. He just got back from visiting too! "This is hard. Yes. Very hard. Just...what can we do to help? What do you need from us to help?" He's not sure what else to do.

"Take deep breaths, Jackson." Warren says. "Nice and slow. Picture something nice and calming in your head, like the lake on a summer day or something."

Jackson is taking deep breaths, or trying to; they are shaky and ragged, but eventually they calm. "Help?" He is still bewildered. "You /can't/ help." The light is subsiding, though, and he drops heavily back into his chair, elbows propped on his knees and his fingers splayed through his hair as his forehead drops to rest in his palms. "She wanted me to go live with her. She wanted to be my --" He falls silent, eyes still wide and staring.

The doors of the med bay open up to allow another mutant to enter the room, and this one is a bit worse for wear from the looks of things. Kaji walks into the room looking rather beat up; he has cuts, scraps, bruises, and a few gashes here and there. Though he looks perfectly calm about the entire thing. The group of people in the med bay snaps him out of his little personal dream and he arches a brow for a moment. Though staying silent for now. He lets out a sigh before he starts to go for the guaze and bandages.

Jafari shakes his head. "Look man, we've all lost people, all right?" Nope, that probably won't do it. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can say or do. I know that. But I'm here, man. I know what it's like to lose someone. I can't say how much she meant to you, but believe me, I think I can understand. If you want me to leave, though, I'll understand."

Warren breathes a sigh of relief as the light fades from Jackson's hands. Then Kaji walks in. "The hell?" Warren says. "Kaji?"

Jackson continues to take deep breaths, and he just shakes his head at Jafari's words. His head lifts as Kaji enters, and his brow creases with worry as he looks at his. "-- Kaji? You're hurt?" Concern washes over his expression.

Kaji looks back at everyone with a gauze bandage packet hanging from his mouth and he blinks a bit before bringing a hand up; removing the packet from his mouth. "I needed to relieve some stress, so I went to the DR. Didn't care what settings I put it on as I needed to fight against something. Turns out that-- When did you wake up, Warren?." He bites the packet once more and rips it open before he looks back at Jackson; confusion flickering over the teen's face. "Jax? When did you get back?" He glances over at Jafari and stays silent; he's trying to help and Kaji distracting him won't help much.

Jafari looks over to Kaji and waves slightly. "Hey man." Although he's been away for a while, he still remembers him of course. Why wouldn't he? Looking at Jackson, he says, "The last thing you need, Jax, is someone else to worry about. Just be concerned with yourself right now."

"About ten minutes maybe?" Warren says in answer to Kaji. "And still mildly confused as to why I'm doing so well, but like I said, not going to bitch."

"I got back as soon as I heard about Mister Worthington." Jackson presses his fingertips to the hollows of his eyes, tiredly, his jaw tightening briefly. "Please, Jafari. I'll be fine." He drops his hand to his lap, and curls his knees up to his chest. "I told you, sir," he says to Warren (as if his last explanation was /perfectly/ clear, "your body totally decided to heal itself. First you died an' then they thought maybe you were having --" His hand gestures to his head. "Brain -- things --" He is /so/ scientific in his explanations! "Only but it was just healing."

Kaji ahs for a moment before he grabs the rubbing alcohol and wipes off one of the more prominent gashes on his arm. "Ah. And you should have seen me last night when we brought you in. Didn't think I could feel that angry," He wraps the gauze around the wound. He glances back at Jax and smiles slightly, "It's great to see you once more, Jackson."

Jafari sighs, shaking his head. "If you say so, Jax." He looks at Kaji. "Haven't seen you in a while. How's it going?"

"I ... oh." The explanation hadn't quite sunk in the first time around. "Wierd shit. Thought I was too old for the manifestation thing." Then he snorts. "At least it was something that helped me get better."

There's a smile, that flickers briefly across Jackson's expression as he looks at Kaji. "I wish the circumstances were --" Well, pretty much anything else. At all. He exhales a slow, shaky breath, blue eyes flitting back to Warren. "I think you might'a died otherwise, sir," he says, quietly. "I'm -- well. /Glad/ don't begin to cover it."

Kaji glances over at Jafari and smirks, "Other than what you see before you. I'm doing pretty well actually." He lets out a small laugh before he looks back at Warren and grins. "Looks like you /can/ teach an old bird new tricks." Joking totally. But he wouldn't pass it up. His attention flicks over to Jackson once more. "I still have a promise to fulfill for ya, Jax."

Jafari smiles and nods, a little bit. He stays out of the conversation for the moment.

"Kaji, do not make me get out of bed and kick your ass." Warren mock-growls.

"You do?" Jackson's brow creases in confusion. Between (dissipating) worry over Warren and the news about Sunset and his generally chaotic mindframe of late, his memory is not functioning at its best. "-- An' please, sir, I think you should prooobably be staying in bed," he remembers to chide, with mock-severity to Warren's mock-growl.

Kaji gives a glance back over at Warren and says, "I dare you to try it." He cracks his knuckles and then looks over at Jackson, "Yeah, I still got that flying promise to hold up to. Remember that catching practice we did a while back in the DR?"

Jafari yawns. "You know what, I'm getting tired. I should get back to my room. I'll see you all later, I suppose. Don't strain yourself too much, sir."

Warren snorts. "If I wasn't so tired, I would." He snarks at Kaji. "Someone's gotta keep you lot in line."

Jackson winces. "'course I remember it. It was -- er." He grins. "I was sort of damaged. It was unwise." He leans back in his chair, gaze flickering over Warren. "Not you, right now, sir. /You're/ s'posed to be resting an' letting everyone else take care of you!" His grin brightens, impish. "-- /I'll/ keep Kaji in line."

Kaji looks over at Jafari, "I'll see you around the school, Jafari. Head to bed if you're tired." His gaze moves back to Jackson and then he says, "Oh? And how's a little firefly gonna keep me in line, hm?" He grins slightly before he looks over at Warren and says, "When you're /all/ better. We need to do that altimeter thing."

Jafari heads to a power outlet and whoosh, he's gone.

Warren snorts. "I'm probably going to have to retest /everything/." He admits. "So yeah, we need to do that."

Jackson's head tilts, and his drained look is fading -- genuine perking up, or illusion, it is difficult to say. Eyes glitter in reflection of his grin, and one hand lifts, palm up. "/This/ little firefly has had plenty of alone-time to practice," he says cheerfully, and a shimmering forcefield springs to life around Kaji. Pretty! And pretty indestructable.

Kaji arches a brow at the shield springing up around him and he then looks back at Jackson. "I see that. I'm pretty happy to see this as well." He brings a hand up to touch it as he then looks over at Warren, "Hopefully not a lot has changed. Or else that'd get a bit annoying." He glances over at Jackson and says, "Think you can detach yourself from that bed long enough to help me test out the harness for my dragon form?"

Log. Thursday evening. 8 May. Xavier's, lake. And the sky. Mostly the sky.

<XI> Lake
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing that you notice when you walk onto the path that encircles a good majority of the lake is the clarity of the water itself. You can see easily if anyone is swimming in the water or not, or you can just enjoy the reflections of the surrounding environment or the sun itself. The path that goes around most of the lake is a plain dirt path that looks worn down enough to keep the grass and weeds off of it, and there's an off shoot that goes closer to the lake to gain access to the dock that extends a good ways into the water.
 
The water of the lake laps calmly against the shores most of the days when there is nothing disturbing the peace of the lake. On days where there are storms, it is not wise to come in here as the waves become more turbulent and dangerous. Though there are time when people are more daring then others.
 
The dock is made of rather durable material, and has the signs of aging like mostly everything that is in the nature around here. The edges of it have been rounded down by the water hitting it and wings blasting against it when there are high winds. The end of the dock has very faint rings of metal being rusted into it from people sitting at the edge fishing with bait buckets next to them. There also seems to be some scratches from things landing on it or walking on it as well. Must be the bird.

The night tonight is rather thick with cloud cover, the impending threat of rain would be promising if you were looking for that kind of thing. The thumps of something rather heavy walking is heading towards the lake. Hopefully with his friend in tow. "You ready for this, Jax?" asks Kaji as he rolls his shoulders. The harness on the back of his neck is getting rather annoying because he was still getting used to it.

Jackson is in tow; walking, as yet, and not yet mounted. The frail teenager is dwarfed by his friend, but he doesn't mind. His steps are light and nearly soundless against the grass. "Maybe," he says quietly. "I don't know if I'll be ready to come back down."

Kaji lets out a rumbling chuckle as he turns his head in the direction of Jackson. "Don't worry. I won't want to either. But we will have to sooner or later. I'll make sure it's the later part." He stops at the edge of the lake and then lowers down to the ground. "I won't be able to help ya get the harness on. So, make sure you get it nice and snug. Alright?" His head is turned to look back at his friend, his eyes glowing slightly.

"Okay. I'll be careful." Jackson climbs on carefully, trying to be as un-uncomfortable as possible, and cinches the harness on snugly before taking hold of the handles. "Later," he agrees, then, laughter in his tone. "Earth is the last place I want to be just now."

Kaji flares his wings out as he feels Jackson's weight settle into the harness. "I'll make sure of that. Though it might get a bit chilly up there." He lets out a chuckle and then beats his wings; getting his bulk off of the ground a good foot or so before he puts more oomf into the next beat and he starts to fly up into the sky. Going in a loose circle so Jax can get used to the temperature.

"That's okay," Jackson says, brightly, "I'll be too drunk to notice!" On adrenaline, rather than alcohol; even so! On Kaji's back, his smile is hard to see, but it shows in the lightness of his tone. "You knoooow," he tells the dragon, "-- second star t'the right an' straight on till morning, and we'd /never/ hafta go back."

Kaji lets out a small laugh and then calls over the rush of the wind, "I don't think Neverland could handle a dragon!" His wings beat harder as he passes through some low clouds; lingering within them for a few moments before heading above them into a space of clearish sky.

"Neverland can handle anything!" Jackson replies, though his words are mostly stolen by the wind and the breath of laughter that rushes out from him. His head tilts back as they emerge from the clouds, and the air around them blossoms with light; small glowing pinpricks of it that could be fireflies, but upon closer examination contain tiny winged humanoid figures that dance and zoom along by their sides. Perhaps they cannot go to Neverland, but Jackson sure can have fairies /here/.

Kaji beats his wings harder. sending them upwards into the sky as he then hovers for a moment. Before them, around them, surrounding them is a clear sky; the moon hanging above them and causing the clouds beneath them to glow with a slight mythical essence. "Now this," says Kaji between the beats of his wings, "Is why I like coming up here." Sure they aren't high enough to freeze Jackson to the bone; but it is chilly.

Jackson shivers briefly, but the scene around them steals his attention. For a while he is silent, simply drinking it in. "Can we live up here?"

Kaji smiles, though it is unseen by Jackson. "No, we can't. Though however I wish that I could," says Kaji, his voice being whisked away by the wind but it should be able to be heard by Jax slightly. "And if you think that the moonlit clouds are nice. You should see sunrise. That's even more spectacular." He chuckles a bit as he then looks up; past the clouds above them and the cirrus clouds, to the stars. "Just come find me if you ever want to leave the ground, alright? I'll be perfectly happy to help."

"I always want to leave the ground," Jackson replies with a laugh. "I never want to touch the ground -- sometimes I think I'm never there. Somewhere else. Always somewhere else. But -- but I would like the help. Dreams soar higher than dragons, but wings are better than insanity."

Kaji laughs, "You're head is always up in the clouds. Now your body has joined it, Jax." His wings beat once more as he just starts to fly around lazily in the air. "And wings are always better than anything." He turns his head back to look at Jackson and says, "And, you're not insane. A little touched in the head, maybe. Insane? Not by a long shot."

"That's not what they told me," Jackson answers with a wrinkle of his nose. "They said I'm crazy-crazy-crazy and put me on drugs 'till I was a zombie all over again." He sighs, but it is a happy sigh as they fly; the small glowing fairies return to hover around them. "I'm trying to get my head -- back. Back to earth. Not be crazy anymore."

Kaji glances around at the fairies and smiles as he continues to fly around; his wings beating lazily as he then says, "It doesn't matter what they say, Jax. You're back with your friends now. And even if you deny it, we are still your friends." A low chuckle comes from the dragon, as he then asks a question on a different topic. "The harness working out okay?"

"I wouldn't never deny it," Jackson says seriously. "It just ain't always so easy to --" He breaks off with a shake of his head, and his tone lightens. "It's great! -- Well, for me. I don't know how /you/ feel about having someone riding around on your back." At least he weighs next to nothing!

Kaji rolls his shoulders and goes a wee bit higher as he says, "To be honest, I can't feel you back there." Not like he'd feel anyone else, it'd take a nice heavy load for him to notice. "And I don't mind really. I'm doing this for fun." He beats his wings once more and starts to go into a circle once more. In the circle, he looks back at Jax. His eye shining slightly from the moonlight and he says, "Glad to hear that."

"Glad to hear which part?" Jackson asks, head tilting slightly.

Kaji lets out a laugh as he glances back at Jackson once more; after checking to see if there was any planes headed their way. "That you don't deny that you still have friends."

Jackson's grin is bright, and reflected in the brightening of the fairy-illusions dancing around them. "I know I've always got friends. I know I've always got you guys. Even -- even when I got really bad, I still -- knew. Sometimes it's just not easy to deal with the world. But that don't mean I've forgotten about it."

Kaji laughs; one that seems to vibrate his entire body, "Now that is what I wanted to hear from you." He looks up into the sky and then back down to the ground. "Ready to head back down? I kinda skipped dinner and I'm gettin' a bit hungry."

"You've gotta eat," Jackson agrees, and his gaze sweeps the sky around them once more. "I s'pose I can deal with having to come back down to earth!"

Kaji glances back at Jackson; a glint in his eye would make a normal person hold on tight to the handles. "Hold on~" He beats his wings hard and goes vertical for a good few seconds before he arches his back; hanging there, "Press yourself against the strap." He laughs before he folds his wings in and just starts to plummet down through the air.

Jackson is hardly a normal person! But he does hold tighter to the handles at Kaji's warning, and -- then his breath rushes out in an exhilirated laugh as they plummet. He does not speak; he does not bother attempting to. A stream of light trails from their decent, glittering in their wake. Kaji the falling star.

Kaji folds his wings in close to his body; only flaring them out when they burst through the layer of clouds and he starts to slow their descent down by flying in a tight circle and then slowly winding out into a larger one. Soon they are going in a circle that's tracing the edge of the lake.

Jackson's grip loosens as their descent slows, but the trail of light still shines and shimmers in their wake. It lingers to mark their path, tracking where they've been, a sparkling outline around the lake's edge.

Kaji beats his wings in a good succession as he finally touches his back feet to the ground and then lets his front paws rest against the dirt as well. "Well now, that was fun. Wasn't it." A laugh as he turns his head to look back at Jackson; a smile curling the edges of his mouth.

"More than fun," Jackson says, leaning forward to wrap his arms around the dragon's neck. "I -- I really -- /really/ -- needed that. Thank you." His cheek presses against Kaji's scales, and he does not get down juuust quite yet.

Kaji smiles, "It was my pleasure," and he's more than content to start walking towards the school; his wings folding in towards his back as he walks. "To be honest, I needed that as well. Flying above the clouds calms me down quite a bit. I've spent a lot of time up there these past few weeks."

Jackson stays where he is a moment longer, thin arms hugging the dragon's neck before he straightens. "Been sort of a crazy little while, ain't it?" he muses, quietly. "Sometimes I think it's nice to leave the world behind. It can weigh you down. Up there it ain't so heavy."

Kaji laughs slightly as he shakes his head and looks back at Jackson. "Yeah, it has. Hasn't it. But I'm glad you're back here. I've missed ya terribly." His wings shudder slightly; getting the mist that accumulated on them to fly off and around them. And then back on him. "The world is never too heavy when you have wings."

Jackson giggles as droplets of moisture hit him; now, finally, he unbuckles his harness and slides off, dropping to the ground and landing in a crouch at Kaji's side before straightening. "I don't got none," he says with a lopsided grin, "so I guess I'll just hafta borrow yours sometimes. When the world's too heavy."

Kaji stops walking when he hears the harness being unbuckled and he lowers himself down to make the drop not that big of one. "And I'll let you borrow mine whenever you need to." He raises up one of his front paws and extends a claw; flicking it at the clasps on the bottom side of the larger strap. With the three clasps undone; he slips the harness off and rolls his shoulders. "Remind me to put some padding on the underside of that, alright?" He laughs slightly as he then shifts down into his half dragon form; running a hand through his hair before he picks up the harness and glances over at Jax. "Shall we go raid the kitchen?"

Jackson's answering smile is cheerful-bright. "I barely've touched food since I got back," he admits. "Let's go see what we can dig up!"