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Post by Morgan on Jun 17, 2021 21:24:06 GMT -6
The next week, in fact Morgan's only off week for a long awhile from work, was spent with the pair working on learning to ride together during flight, and of course the landings. Quite a few of the flights worked out to be enjoyable, though there was one instance in which the pair nearly crashed into an outcropping, scaring both of them into being much more careful on the subsequent flights. Both of them were quite sore throughout the entire process, requiring medication. Endymion spent a lot of time learning to make sure to keep Morgan from being jostled free during turns and of course learning to smooth out landings. Endymion found it relatively easy to learn to react speedily to the whistled alarms to fly and land. He eventually got quite quick at the required reaction times. Morgan also got much better at climbing up on his back as well. Finally, Morgan was sure that Endymion was ready to fly solo in visits to the city. [30] - [Finished with Fly, Land, and Carry Rider?] - [The pair go home.]
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Post by Morgan on Sept 29, 2021 8:25:22 GMT -6
When Morgan showed up the next time, Endymion could not quite force himself to be particularly excited. His human had been particularly awful through their bond recently, practically working theirself to death and then acting up; Endymion could scarcely stand the mess that Morgan got theirself into the last month of so. Bond-mates were meant to understand their bonded and love them unconditionally- and while Endymion certainly did that he still did not feel inclined to like it when Morgan did something particularly self-destructive and affected him through the bond itself with it. It was early in the morning when the pair of them got around and flew out to the Mesa. The trip was so much quicker now that Endymion could fly; and Morgan was much more calm while flying over the canyons than when they had flown over the city. Endymion could almost imagine that things were fine as they touched down. [1] - [Morgan is using Sever Bond]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 6, 2021 16:04:11 GMT -6
Morgan was inclined to get them to work immediately. Upon touching down, they immediately disembarked from the decently sized draconic's back. Endymion tries not to be frustrated (and only mildly is able to mask it mentally from the bespectacled human that he was spiritually saddled with) as Morgan crosses their arms, walking around him and quite obviously assessing him with a once-over. "We need to w-work on your intimidation skills."
Endymion tilts his head and peers down at Morgan with his blue eyes narrowed. "Why would we need to do that?" The question is very pointed, as sharp as any spear.
Morgan shrugs. "Just in case." They both know it is a deflection, and Endymion sighs a loud growling sort of noise.
"But I want to learn to read." He complains. It is only very rarely that Endymion shows that bit of childish cheek that he used to have as a hatchling.
[2]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 6, 2021 16:13:07 GMT -6
Morgan ignores this bit of complaining. They have spoken about this previously; they would have to work on it in bits and pieces over time, it wasn't something that could be learned in one sitting like one of the lessons they were currently about to enter the process of. The human finds theirself a small flattish rock to sit on that stuck out from the mesa itself at a decent enough angle to make for a good stool and sweeps their own labcoat's ends beneath their hind end to keep from sitting on it in an uncontrolled fashion and possibly hurting theirself with it (they were quite used to this by this point).
"H-h-how about this, Endymion. We'll w-work on the things that I was thinking of today, and t-tomorrow we'll work on your reading lessons." Morgan smiles lopsidedly, but one would be committing to error to refer to the smile as good-natured. Endymion was willing to take it though, if for nothing else than to gain some leverage on the next set of lessons.
[3]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 6, 2021 16:19:04 GMT -6
Morgan took this as a success, though admittedly they were too exhausted from overwork to really pay attention to the emotional side of the link. "O-okay then, we need to work on making you a bit more intimidating to p-possible foes." They started out. Endymion tilts his head in silent question. It is obvious that he isn't going to get any information out of Morgan that he would have liked (Morgan was notoriously bad at talking about their feelings; at least when it came to the more important ones). He was not going to be able to get Morgan to admit to being a tad more paranoid than they needed to be (at least in his eyes).
Instead, he closes the small gap that Morgan has made between them and he stands there. "You've seen this work with creatures that the Labs created, I presume?" He asks.
Morgan nods. "And ones that WELP has made."
[4] - [Start 'Intimidation']
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Post by Morgan on Oct 6, 2021 16:31:55 GMT -6
Draconic culture, as Morgan well knew, often saw the Labs-made beasts as varyingly horrendous crimes against nature. On one hand, Morgan understood why that might be. On the other hand, Morgan wondered sometimes why the distinction was made between genetic weaving done purposefully in the clinical space of a laboratory, and genetic weaving having been done haphazardly by nature and intelligent forces alike (selecting for more desirable grain traits, selecting for the best hunting beasts, selection for the most physically attractive mates and the like). Endymion did not have such compunctions, having been bound to perhaps one of the more morally bankrupt humanoids since before either of them could remember properly.
But Endymion did realize that he should have those compunctions, and thus one arises in the space devoid of the others.
"Anyway." Morgan clears their throat verbally, despite the miniature conversation flitting across the mindscape in less than words. "This i-is excellent for self defense, if a little bit easily avoided."
[5 - (Counted towards a Level)]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 7, 2021 16:21:11 GMT -6
The technique was indeed so easy to avoid that Morgan had already long since taught Endymion (when he was a hatchling to boot!) to be unafraid of creatures presenting as powerhouses. However, it was a good technique to have; something that might just give them the upper hand if anything were to happen. They blatantly ignore the mental 'and what is it that might go wrong?' that was passed over between them. This little... Link was already exhausting, especially since Morgan fought against it with all of their mental fortitude to begin with.
Instead, they hold their shoulders up and give the draconic another once over- who was comparatively to their slight frame quite huge. The difference in size forced them to crane their head to look. "Coming off a-as intimidating is a quarter size, and three-quarters c-confidence." They state. "Y-you've got the size, but we need to work on confidence, and technique will help you with that."
[6]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 7, 2021 16:31:33 GMT -6
Endymion did not particularly enjoy what he knew was going to be a general surge towards more self-protection oriented work between the two of them. Endymion much preferred academic pursuits. However, he did understand why his bonded was so concerned with self protection. Despite the fact that Morgan did not desire to admit the details, he knew about the human's father's disappearance and how Morgan assumed that he'd met a grisly fate. The human was hyper-engrossed with the concern of self-protection due to it. It was enough to make him bite his tongue, despite having more than a few choice words to say that might otherwise have spared him the fate of having to learn anything battle oriented that day.
Instead, he dips his head. "What do you suggest, then?" He asks.
"To stop dipping your head s-so much, f-fuh-for one." Morgan answers. "You need to hold your head high, if you want to appear intimidating."
Endymion holds his tongue before he accidentally spouts an indignant 'But I don't.' Like some kind of teenager.
[7]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 8, 2021 13:08:04 GMT -6
Morgan tilted their head, cupping their own chin and assessing Endymion as he begrudgingly brought his shoulders up and squared himself a bit more. They nodded once he got into a position that might inspire himself some confidence. "P-part of this is going to be learning to keep your confidence while working on other things." They mentioned. "When you move, you need t-to learn to exude confidence." After making these two points, Morgan hops up from the position that they had been sitting in and they moved around the draconic in a circle, pointing out little changes that could be made to help. "N-now, if of these don't work for you, feel free to drop them." They assured. "Not everything needs to be perfect."
That gave Endymion pause. It was not normal for Morgan to be anything less than a perfectionist, but he did appreciate it more than he was willing to let on. They shared Morgan's insecurities more heavily than he'd like to admit.
[8]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 8, 2021 13:34:50 GMT -6
There were a few other things that Morgan intended on working with Endymion about today. There wasn't much they could do just now to work on the intimidation technique that didn't involve hanging out around frightening creatures (which they would do at a later date) or that would require not working on something else at the same time. "Alright, let's see if you can maintain w-what you've got going on right now while working on o-other stuff." Morgan yawns at this, stretching their shoulders back and rolling them to remove tension from them.
"What do you have in mind?" Endymion asks, even though he doesn't necessarily need to. Old habits die quite hard between them, it seems.
The human's face splits into a rare honest grin. "I was thinking 'bout s-some flying work." They said. "A few maneuvers that I'm hoping w-won't give us any trouble. I doubt they'll be too hard on you." At this, Morgan pats the draconic's shoulder. "You're drooping, st-st-straighten on up."
Endymion straightens up at that, from where he'd been stooping. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
[9]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 8, 2021 13:47:16 GMT -6
Morgan was going to keep an eye out each time that the Eideon stopped exuding the confidence that was the honest first leg of their journey on this particular technique. However, there was no need to actively work on it while putting off the rest of the work that Morgan had planned. "S-starting out, I was thinking about t-teaching you to dive when I'm on y-your back. You know, in the air." Morgan said. They were sure that he could do it at least passively whenever he was flying on his own, but the real issue was doing a maneuver like that one with finesse even when Morgan was riding with him. Endymion seems to be more interested in this part of the day's plans than the so-called 'being scary' part, so he drops a wing to allow Morgan to climb on to his back with real excitement in his frame. He really did enjoy flying; and who wouldn't had they the ability? [10] - [Start on 'Dive', Still working on Intimidation] [Note to Self: Counted towards a level with another thread.]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 12, 2021 15:00:22 GMT -6
Morgan felt uneasy purposefully using the link, but it was much more difficult for the draconic to hear the relatively tiny human situated between his wings and holding onto his mane for dear life. He was so much larger at this juncture that he scarcely felt the human's light frame upon his back; and Morgan knew that. <I'm ready.> They force across the link; unused to it and extremely LOUDLY. Endymion recoils mentally, but lifts off of the ground with ease. After they are up above the Mesa, circling over the area with easy loops that Endymion had gotten quite used to doing in his own free time, Morgan pushes across the link again (this time a little bit softer, not that they would admit that they'd done it for anyone else's benefit)- <Alright, We'll do a tap system for the dive; since it will be easier from atop your back.> Morgan states.
They tap his back twice. <Twice for dive. Also, straighten up a bit, you're dipping your head again.>
[11]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 12, 2021 21:47:43 GMT -6
Endymion's main failure when it came to showing the confidence required of a creature his natural size and stature to be intimidating was that slouch; and he even tended to do it while he was flying even though it was not required for his flight. He straightens up fairly easy with a slight adjustment of his wings, and tried to practice keeping the confidence in his movements naturally while also not thinking about it (focusing on flight was definitely a good decision; flight was difficult even for those naturally inclined). It was an act of futility at first. Endymion struggled to keep up with the delicate wheels of flight while also keeping a sense out for the double-tap to dive, and also trying to keep the correct stance to appear intimidating in an effective way. In addition, diving was much more difficult than simply dropping altitude to land so Endymion did not find the metaphorical juggling as easy as he had thought it would be.
[12]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 12, 2021 21:59:14 GMT -6
Morgan did not believe in 'Practice makes perfect' at all. Instead, they believed 'perfect practice makes perfect' and perhaps that was part of the reason that they tended to be so highly neurotic as a person. This leaking over the bond often made Endymion have a much more difficult time than he would have liked- sometimes he very strongly wished that Morgan would go get some sort of help because it would help him immensely with his own work and ability to concentrate. There was always something buzzing beneath the thin veneer of his bondmate's mind, and it HURT sometimes to deal with the constant drone of it. True entropy. It was terrifying the way that Morgan was simply unafraid of the issue.
Still, the two work as well together as two dysfunctional people could. Morgan pushes Endymion to repetition and to work harder to get everything just so; as he continually repeats the 'correct' diving movements with the margin of error slowly dwindling down.
[13]
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Post by Morgan on Oct 12, 2021 22:12:57 GMT -6
If nothing else, the two were quite good at ignoring things that needed to be said by doing something; and when it came down to it they were quite good at throwing themselves full-heartedly into a task to avoid the inevitable. Morgan uses the double-tap method to let Endymion know when to dive, and then whenever he does so (which they do repeatedly over the course of an hour) they critique how he performs the task. Sometimes they comment on it being too steep (steep enough to be dangerous and nearly forcing them to drop to the ground) and then sometimes his technique was a tad sloppier. It took the full hour to get to the point to where he wasn't hesitating to make sure that the double-tap was genuine as opposed to reacting immediately. He knew from Morgan's earlier work with him that it was important for him to react as quickly as possible; just in case.
[14]
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