It was hard to pull her eyes from the sight of Soman, bloody as he continued to eat his fresh kill. However, she knew the voice behind her.
"I agree… Wow." She turned her head slowly to meet the silver eyes of Raba.
Loola was closely watching Soman, a look on her face that MeiAnne had never seen.
"He's much bigger than the rest." Raba's voice was flat, hurting MeiAnne a bit at the sound of it. As if he had distanced them more than she intended.
"Bigger? He's more than just bigger!" Gen pointed out over the entirety of the feeding grounds. "He's got more potential than all the dragons out here!"
Raba glanced over at his friend before returning his gaze back to Soman. MeiAnne's eyes followed as well.
She couldn't hide her sigh when she saw Soman had heard Gen's comment. The corners of his lips were pulled back, nostrils flared, and his eyes shone bright with an inflated ego.
"Look at that. He knows I'm right." Gen chuckled when he saw MeiAnne hide the smile that was growing on her face.
Raba's eyes darted to unseen points around him as his face was taut with thoughts MeiAnne wished she could read.
"I'll grab some towels for this messy one before he drags it back to our clean stable."
As Raba's face relaxed, MeiAnne had a feeling of what was on his mind. It was her. As she put her two friends behind her her mood dropped.
It would take some time for things to relax among them. The awkward tension had to be visible in the air. She was probably the first person he opened up to in this life of ostracization she found him in. Outside of Gen at least, but she hadn't seen him try to kiss him yet.
She threw a dry towel over her shoulder, ignoring the stains of blood from meals prior. She grimaced as she stepped into the shack next to the officer responsible for small dragon meals. It reeked of soiled towels, but she had to step in to find one of the soap soaked towels.
She moved quickly to avoid dripping on her pants, once again straining to ignore the stares she felt yet couldn't see.
Soman lifted his head to greet her and to MeiAnne's horror he nudged her with his viscera-covered maw.
She laughed with shock before throwing the wet towel over his head. "You know what you did! You know it."
Her hands moved the towel over his smooth hide, slowly growing bright red from behind the brown tinged cloth. Tossing the towel on the ground, she used the dry towel to make sure she didn't miss anything.
Used to the drill from his time scavenging, Soman lifted his head up. That way MeiAnne could squat down and clean off his forelegs.
"This has to be the downside of his dark hide. Loola never gives me this problem.'' MeiAnne tried to hide her surprise at Raba's approach.
"Were you reading my mind as I struggle to tell if he's actually clean or if the lighting was making a fool of me?"
After a brief pause, Raba continued. "Although, you won't have to worry about stains so much."
MeiAnne regretted that she didn't turn to face Raba. Maybe he smiled at her attempted joke.
"Oh yeah? I thought it was just her pale color that left some areas pinkish." She made sure to turn to face him this time.
"Usually is. Just not so much on her forelimbs."
Raba had a soft smile for a brief moment before he turned to return to Loola, seemingly in a rush.
MeiAnne sighed as she stood up, stooping a bit to pick up the used towels from where she threw them on the ground. She kept her hand placed gently on Soman's shoulder as they both walked.
Soman's magic training would soon begin. She wasn't sure what that would look like. With Molis there were other established dragons and their partners to assist and train. The same was it was for most training dragons and their partners.
'Would the Admiral stay in, as he was paired with a black dragon?' She thought to herself.
She felt her stomach flip in her abdomen. It was a mix of emotions, mostly nerves as the next thought crossed her mind.
'Would it be Raba?'
MeiAnne did a good job of shoving that thought to the side as she went about the rest of her day. It was easy in comparison to the emotions brought about when thinking about training with Molis returned.
As they went on, she found herself leaning on Soman for comfort when the positive memories didn't feel so positive in her heart. Soman never objected, as if he could tell his partner needed him more in those moments.
They must have been a sight to behold. MeiAnne was not a large or imposing person by any means. It also would have been said that her figure didn't lend itself to that of a soldier to others at a first glance. Although to her credit, beneath her uniform were increasing amounts of lean muscle from her work put into the career she chose to pursue.
Always at her side was this walking curiosity to everyone who knew dragons. Soman still had the rounded features of a baby dragon, even if he was growing exponentially faster than the others. His belly was swollen from his feast earlier that day, just as any young creature of any species was bound to appear bloated.
Yet, here they were. The embodiment of what a bond means to a partner pair.
MeiAnne and Soman didn't blend in with the rest of their comrades. Neither did the few who decided to befriend MeiAnne in the first place. Perhaps that's why she was able to handle the stares, why Soman never minded being a rock for the both of them. They knew that they had the support of their small circle.
That support also came in the form of the officers room she still inhabited. MeiAnne was very thankful that a moving day didn't come with Soman, even more so as she sank into her bed.
No doubt her lack of rank conflicting with her quartering was a clear indication of the favoritism from Raba, her General. While MeiAnne would love to let it soak in as the gift it most likely was, she couldn't help but worry if the special treatment from her complicated friendship would add up.