You'll Thank Me One Day [Yao+Jin]

Yao nodded. "Yes, you were better than yesterday... up until the end." Yao gave Jin a look of disapproval to indicate that he had totally caught on. "But now that that's taken care of, let me just bandage my finger, and we can go for ice cream." Normally, Yao wouldn't have had to bandage a simple finger wound, but he had poked that one spot that, no really, bled a lot, so he rose from his place on the ground and marched into the kitchen to look for some bandages. He opened a cabinet which was very high so that Jin couldn't get into it and eat the medicine as if it were candy, and pulled out a box of band-aids. He opened the package, took one out, and wrapped it around his finger. A dragon with a band-aid was a silly sight, but better than getting blood everywhere.

At the accusation, Jin looked away, blushing. It wasn’t like he was trying to disguise his slacking off, but it was still embarrassing to know he’d been caught. Hearing Yao mention his favourite treat perked him back up immediately.

“Yessss, ice cream!” he cheered, following after his older brother and waiting for him to bandage his finger. He tilted his head, wondering why the strip was decorated with pink ribbons and kitty faces. Ah well, his brother did like to collect those weird cat dolls after all. Maybe that was why no one was ever allowed into the upper levels of their home...

Unable to wait any longer, Jin ran to the door and slipped his shoes on, practically bouncing.

“Come on gege,” he called, hugging his pearl. “Hurry...! What if they sell out?”

Yao laughed and placed a hand on Jin's shouler. "Don't worry, they're not going to sell out! And if they do, I'll rip them to shreds and devastate their lands with flood waters!"

He was only half kidding.

After making certain that he looked decent for public (read: better than everyone else minus Jin, who always looked perfectly fashionable), he opened the door and waved for Jin to follow him. "Alright, let's get some ice cream!"

Some would find it odd that Jin let out a little 'yay' after Yao mentioned slaughtering innocent creautres just for running out of an ice cream flavour...but the young dragon didn't really care. After all, he knew his brother would make them shut their judgmental mouths.

Hmph.

"It's been a while since we've gone into town," he said, following his older brother out of the house. "Do you think anything's changed?"

Yao shook his head. "Things don't generally change that quickly with humans," he said. "At most, they've started some obnoxiously noisy construction project, or something. You know, they never can seem to keep roads nice." Of course, that was partially Yao's fault, but he wasn't going to bring that up. Why did he care? He didn't ride a bike or drive one of those aw-toe-moe-beels. He just flew, and in no way really needed the roads.

"Ready?" he said, and began to push himself into the air. For Yao, flying was very simple, almost like breathing, and actually easier than walking. After all, the winds did his job for him.

Jin watched his brother rise, looking up with wide eyes. He still hadn't really gotten a hand on flying in this form, especially when he wasn't allowed to go more than a few hundred feet without his brother's supervision. But it was necessary for a dragon to fly, wasn't it? Everyone at school already doubted him...that is, until he sneezed up a fog.

"Uh," he said, unsure whether he wanted to use one of his hands to cling onto Yao's robe or keep them both on his pearl in case it fell while they were flying. "...I guess so."

The smaller dragon pushed off the ground and trailed closely behind Yao, making sure to avoid any angry birds that may be flying in their direction.

As Yao flew, he looked back every once in awhile to make sure that Jin was keeping up with him. It wasn't that Yao didn't want to slow down for Jin or that he was impatient, but it was very difficult. At this point, he had forgotten how difficult it had been for him to learn to fly, and well, you know what they say about learning to fly; once you learn, you never forget.

After about ten awkward minutes or so, Yao reached back and gave Jin a little push, just to get him going a little faster. Yao felt that if Jin were in front, he could keep a better eye on the boy.

Jin yelped a bit when Yao pulled him forward, digging his claws into the pearl as if it were a floatation device. He was panicking...just a bit.

“Why do I have to lead?” he asked, voice sounding a bit shrill. “I don’t even know where we’re going; what if I fly into a mountain or a tower or some giant’s butt or something? Are you still there gege? Are you listening to me? You’ll catch me if I fall right? Did we miss it? Where are we? Why isn’t there a canal that leads to town?!”

"Calm down, Jin!" Yao said. "I wanted you to lead so that I could keep a better eye on you. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you." He honestly hadn't expected Jin to panic this badly, and felt a twinge of guilt as he listened to Jin's concerns. "Look, just keep flying forward. I'll tell you if you need to change directions, and really, you'll just need to descend."

Aaah, this was much easier when Yao could just strap a little pack with Jin tucked inside of it onto his back and fly, but the boy needed to learn to fly...

Jin continued to tremble as they flew towards the main part of Mythos, though he was relieved that they hadn’t already missed their destination. He knew that he couldn't rely on Yao to hold his hand forever, but he still felt like it was way too soon to be doing this without any one to help. ...Then again, that thing his brother had said about 'tomorrow being the day that never arrives' did seem somewhat appropriate in this situation.

“You know, descending is the hardest part, right?” Jin argued, casting aside a small cloud. “Because the ground is a lot harder than anything in the sky!”

...Duh.

"Don't worry," Yao said, "I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you, alright? You can trust your gege, can't you?"

Well, he was going to have to, because they were about to descend here pretty soon. "Alright, Jin, it's about time for us to start descending. Remember, we're shifting the winds only a little bit by little bit. If you find that you've shifted them too much, shift them back in the other direction and try again. Just make sure to steer properly, alright? And if anything bad happens, I'll be here to save you, okay?" And with that, Yao began to descend first, pushing the updraft out from underneath him.

Jin nodded stiffly as he attempted to follow his brother's instructions, concentrating on the wind surrounding them. He was much more comfortable in the water - it was nowhere near as temperamental as these air currents. Slowly, but surely, he began to lower himself closer to the ground, keeping an eye on his landing spot.

Just when he thought he might actually be getting the hang of it, the wind vanished, as if to mock him. Letting out another startled cry, Jin clutched his pearl and proceeded to fall the last twenty feet, bracing himself for the eventual impact.

Ooh, this was going to hurt...

Yao noticed that Jin was falling at a disturbingly fast pace, and began to fly down quicker himself. "I've got you, Jin!" The trick was to fly-fall... yes, he was falling, but he was still directing himself to make sure that he didn't fall in the wrong way. Just before Jin hit the ground, Yao scooped him up underneath his armpits and flew up a little bit to prevent Jin from striking the ground. Once Jin was safely in his arms, he lowered both of them to the ground very slowly so as to keep Jin from panicking.

Which he was probably already doing, anyway.

Jin was already anticipating having to spend his weekend in a hospital bed when, much to his relief, the bone shattering impact never came. He opened one golden eye warily, letting out a relieved breath when he realised Yao had saved him from breaking his...face.

He hadn’t noticed how fast he’d been breathing until he a thin mist had suddenly begun surrounding them. Blushing furiously, Jin used one hand to hug his pearl close, allowing the other to freely wave away the small fog he had created. Once that was done, Jin, still shaking slightly, looked to his older brother with teary eyes and hugged him tightly, giving a small ‘nnn’ of thanks.

…Because that was really the only noise he could manage at that point.

Once they were both safely on the ground, Yao hugged his little brother back and smiled. "It's okay, Jin. I told you that I'd keep you safe, didn't I?" It was really a touching sight, so much so that several passersby stopped to stare.

Unfortunately for them, Yao had no interest in spectators. "... nothing to see here," he said, and glared at those who had the misfortune to stop and stare. While a human glare was intimidating at most, a dragon's glare was simply dreadful, so sure enough, the crowd vanished fairly quickly. And with that, Yao took Jin's hand to lead him into the ice cream parlor.

Ah, solid ground. Such a nice place to be, given it wasn’t heading towards your face at 60 miles per hour. He stooped down and gave the cobblestone street a few pats before grabbing his brother’s hand. Jin hadn’t seen Yao giving the crowd a glare, so he had no idea why everyone seemed to clear a path for them as they headed to the parlour. Maybe it was because they all knew that dragons were to be revered and respected? …Yeah, that must’ve been it...

“You did,” Jin nodded, once he was well enough to form actual words again. “Xie xie, gege.”

"You're welcome," Yao said as they entered the parlor, which was 50s themed, and by 50s themed, it was 1550s themed. The decorations certainly had a Renaissance theme to it, which really made no sense given that ice cream wasn't a really big thing during the Renaissance. However, the owners had grown up during that time period, so sure, why not paint murals on the walls which were eerily reminiscent of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel? Not like it wasn't offensive to most of the members of the town but... whatever. Ice cream.

As Yao entered, everyone in the parlor one by one turned around to look at him. It wasn't that difficult, seeing as he rather purposefully breathed out little clouds, which got the people's attentions. The customers and employees alike quaked in their boots.

Yao quite enjoyed it.

Jin looked from one terrified face to another, tilting his head slightly. His brother wasn’t telling them to go to bed without dinner, so what reason did they have to be afraid? Other creatures were weird.

He looked up, very interested in the odd décor of the room. Of course, he didn’t really understand what the paintings were supposed to represent, but he found the sight of half naked men on the ceiling to be an odd design choice for an ice cream parlour. Unless they were trying to promote how healthy milk was for one’s physique?

As they neared the counter, a colourful display of the different ice cream selections caught Jin’s eye, and the young dragon ran towards the case eagerly, hoping that his favourite flavor was still there. He pressed his face against the glass, searching for its label.

“Whoa, they still have it,” Jin said, genuinely amazed. “Arsenic! You’re getting some too, right gege? It looks like the whole tub’s still full. Lucky, huh?”

Yao smiled at Jin and nodded. "Yes, lucky indeed." He walked up to the counter and smiled at the cashier, a rather gangly looking satyr. Frankly, the smile didn't really matter much, because the cashier still had a look of utter terror on his face. "I would like a couple of arsenic ice cream cones," Yao told him. "Two scoops each."

The cashier punched the order into his computer, and gave Yao the total, which he paid. After that, the workers behind the cashier began to make the ice cream cones.

Jin walked around the parlour, looking for an available table that wasn’t covered with ice cream drippings and used napkins. Seriously, would it kill these people to clean up after eating? Finally, the young dragon came across a freshly bussed table (there was a faint smell of artificial citrus lingering around it) and climbed onto one of the stools. He waved to his brother once the order was placed and continued to look around the shop, taking in the odd appearances of the diverse clientele.

Yao waited patiently for his ice cream, and once he got it, he found the table that Jin had picked out and sat down. "Here you go," he said, and handed the cone to Jin. "Careful, it's a little bit drippy." He began to eat his own cone, making sure to lick where the ice cream was about to drip onto his hands. It was an awfully sweet ice cream cone... maybe a little too sweet, but Jin would probably like it, so Yao refrained from saying anything and ate his ice cream in peace.