Tessa's POV:
"Can I jump from here?" I looked at Dad with a pleading expression.
He nodded while replying, "Yes, but land on the mat."
"Yes!" I jumped off the couch and beat my wings down hard. I was getting better at this, and even one wingbeat sent me flying upwards.
"Tessa..." The warning note in Dad's voice told me that I really shouldn't push any more boundaries after my mistake this morning.
I spread my wings as I turned my flight into a glide, making sure I kept above the big soft mat that now covered most of the floor. I tilted one wing down a bit and leaned to the side as I carefully made a slow mid-air turn – something that Dad called 'banking'.
My wings were getting sore, and I was quickly getting closer to the ground. I was so close that I could almost touch the mat with my hands. Keeping in mind what Mom and Dad had shown us earlier, I angled up a bit while flapping my wings somewhat in front of me – backwinging – which caused me to stop and then drop the small bit of distance between me and the soft mat.
I sank up to my belly in the mat as it cushioned my fall. That landing was my best one so far! Most of my earlier ones had turned into somersaults...
Faint noises caught my attention, and I turned my head as I tried to locate the source. Taureen and Aeria were sitting side by side as both of them looked at a device in Taureen's hands. My ear tufts perked up – that was my voice coming out of the device!
I scampered over and jumped up on the couch, using two wingbeats to get up. Taureen let me climb onto his lap as I curiously examined the device. My eyes widened at the sight of myself and Dirk on the window sill as we flapped our wings for the rising sun.
Taureen commented to Aeria, "Well, they were certainly enthusiastic."
The video ended, and Taureen tapped the screen a few times as he said, "It's a pity you didn't catch her first flight on video. I was hoping to see it."
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting it. The moment I saw her in the air, I was already moving to where I could catch her."
He nodded in understanding as he pressed a few buttons. The screen went black, and I lost interest in it. I started walking towards Taureen's knee, intending to take off from there for another test flight. Taureen picked me up and moved me to his other knee. I looked up at him in confusion.
He saw my look and explained, "There is a scratch under the bandage, and I didn't want you to walk on it."
Oh. I wasn't aware that he had an injury. I was sad that he was hurt, and I trilled my sadness at him. He smiled softly and gently petted my back. I hummed and rubbed my head against his hand. Mom was on Taureen's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with her head, thrumming apologetically.
He reached up and picked her up as he cradled her in his arms. He gazed down at her tenderly. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It was only a scratch."
Mom lifted her head slightly, but if she spoke to him, she didn't include me in her mindspeech. Something told me that this discussion was really between them. I quietly stepped off of Taureen's leg and onto the couch before walking to the end of it. I looked around before opening my wings and jumping into the air once more.
Tasha's POV:
Taureen held me in his arms as we watched both fledglings making small flight attempts across the room. I subtly glanced at the bandage on his leg once more. He may have called it a scratch, but I knew that he wouldn't have used a heavy-duty bandage for a minor cut.
His head may have been facing in the direction of the off-course scarlet youngster, but he still noticed me looking at his leg. He didn't say anything and began rubbing the scales on my neck and shoulders. Even without the oil, the massage was relaxing – and Taureen was well aware of it. He had used this tactic frequently in the past if I got upset or agitated.
Tessa squeaked and narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Dirk. Her aerial evasion caused her to crash-land into the mat, barrel-rolling several times before coming to a slow stop. As she sat up, her head swayed side to side a bit.
I was glad that Taureen had found those soft floor mats so quickly. Technically, the fledglings didn't need them, but Taureen was also going a bit overboard in his own fashion. It would take months before they could fly fast – and their slow flight was keeping them fairly safe.
I knew that Tessa wasn't injured, so I didn't ask if she was okay. Her disorientation swiftly passed, and she promptly bounded over to the chair to get height for another flight attempt. I continued watching as they slowly learned to fly. Their attempts were a far cry from my own memories of learning to use my wings.
Admittedly, my mind had been that of a young adult, and my body almost fully-grown when I had hatched in the lab. I had also watched birds fly, so I knew the theory. Mentally, these two were like five-year-olds at this point. Physically, they were building up muscle as swiftly as they were devouring anything put into their food bowls.
They were still bumbling youngsters though, and the airspace wasn't going to be safe for several weeks...
I glided beside Dirk as I gave him some advice, letting both Keegan and Tessa listen in. "Use smaller wingbeats more frequently, particularly if you are just flying straight. Yes, like that."
The wall was rapidly approaching, and I said, "Lean to the side and use your tail to turn. Your own speed will do most of the work for you."
Dirk's bank was rather wobbly, and he began to panic, causing himself to overbalance. Instinctively, he turned it into a wingover – which he had no idea how to come out of as he plummeted downward.
Dropping into a dive alongside him, I called out, "Spread your wings wide!"
He spread his wings just before Taureen caught him, further cushioning his fall. I pulled out of my dive, letting my momentum turn it into a climb as I circled behind Taureen to land on his shoulder. Taureen stood back up and waited while the blue youngster in his palm got over his shock.
Keegan was under the heat lamp, and Tessa had stopped pigging out on fruit to watch Dirk's latest flying folly. And there had been a lot of those since Tessa's first flight this morning. She had more practice than Dirk, so she hadn't had quite as many, although that wasn't saying much.
Dirk chirped a thank-you at Taureen before once more spreading wings and jumping. This time, Dirk glided carefully towards the end table, where he managed a halfway decent landing.
Keegan quietly commented, "That wasn't too bad. He would have pulled out of his drop even if Taureen hadn't assisted."
I jumped into the air and spread my own wings as I also glided for the end table, where I landed and bumped my nose against Keegan's. "Probably, although I'm sure that there will be quite a few more crash landings as the flying lessons continue."
He hummed in agreement, shifting his wings to make room for me to lie down and spread my own wings under the heat lamp. "Thankfully, their instincts and Blood Memories are helping them; otherwise, there would be a lot more impacts."
