Cave of Wondering

Alexis shifted a little uncomfortably at being called a 'hero'. But it was true he probably would've done whatever it took to save Dalia. If anyone had let him do anything- even that smug bastard Jackal had basically told him to let others with better... whatever handle it.

"I'm not a hero," he grumbled even as he smiled a little. Seeing her smile come back was a big deal. Seeing the change in her teeth gave him pause bit how the fuck was he supposed to ask about that? Better to ignore it and not make things worse.

He didnt know what to do with his hands after the hug so he shoved them in his pockets. "I always want to fly, swim or fight. Any of those sound good?" He wasnt super comfortable in the cave, not knowing exactly what Ana... Ana-whats-her-name might have done in there. But she was also Dalia now so he should try to move past that. But... he was confused again dammit.

"I think maybe doing something will make us both happier, right?"

Alexis shrugged. Most of the time carrying a passenger sounded like a pain in the neck. Way more trouble than it's worth. Except he had flown with passengers since arriving on the island. Those flights had been for wounded friends, a lost bet to his cousin, and even a girl he sparred with once.

This would be good though. He could clear his head a little, and maybe try to get the swirling maelstrom of emotions in his head and chest to subside a little. And he could carry Dalia. As long as she didn't do any zapping shit. That would probably kill them both. Or... well, she might survive. Dumbass, stop thinking and just tell her you can do it.

"I'm not as big as some of the dragons here... but I can carry you i'm sure. No saddles or any of that shit though. I'm not a pony. Come on, I'll shift outside," he replied and motioned for her to come with him. "And no zappy stuff unless you want to hit the ground. Hard."

He could practically feel the ecstatic thrumming of his muscles as he prepared to shift to his wyvern form. A nice stretch and flight would be great. And anything he could do to help Dalia feel better would be even better.

For all his emotions, Alexis must have been terrible at recognizing them in others. Or maybe he was just distracted and confused. Either way, it escaped his notice for the moment that Dalia kept hesitating when the topic of her powers came up. Probably not the best thing for Dalian but Alexis wasnt perfect. Nowhere near it.

His wyvern form was all muscle and sinew. Tough leathery hide and then fans and frills for better stabilization. His sharp claws dug into the ground and his barbed tail lashed once or twice before he crouched down for Dalia. He knew from experience that the best place for her to sit would be at the base of his neck, just in front of the first spine of his back fin. His body wasnt designed for riding but it had worked ok before.

Cool mist pooled around his snout as he waited. Exhaling small amounts and then reveling in the feel of it across his face. "Are you ready? You have to hold on tight." His voice was fairly different in wyvern form because of the different mouth and neck shape. More growly and screech. Though one might argue his human voice was kind of that way too sometimes.

Once Dalia was situated he crawled forward to get a little more space and began tensing his whole body to leap into the air. His takeoffs were always abrupt and adrenaline rush inducing. Just the way he liked it. Unless she was unsure or unstable in her "seat" he would launch himself up and begin flapping to stay aloft.

Alexis could feel her holding on for dear life. Could feel her fingers digging in for just that little bit more of a grip. Of course she wasn't hurting him at all- his hide could withstand far more than that easily. But something about having her clinging to him like that felt kind of... nice. And that only intensified as she began to actually enjoy the flight.

He was capable of doing something that was helping for a change.

There weren't any super crazy aerobatic stunts during this flight- Alexis didn't trust himself to be able to catch her if she fell off, and for some reason she seemed almost... more fragile than she had before. But they did rise up and dive down to brush at the treetops and then climb back up again. Banking here and there to make sure it was a fun ride. And an enjoyable flight for himself too. At one point he also began to breathe out a cloud of mist big enough to hide within and then he swooped through it once or twice, leaving traces of the cool misty air clinging to them as they flew through. More playful than most people usually saw Alexis being.

"Is this helping Dalia?" He loudly growled out into the air, unsure if she could really reply too well with the whipping of wind across both of them. "Pretty sure this is better than standing around in a cave all confused."

Alexis could have probably kept on flying for hours, resting his wings by gliding when he needed. But even he knew that wasn't smart. Not with a passenger who probably needed to not be clinging for her life for that long. So after a while of flying around with her clinging to his neck Alexis lowered down to the ground and landed. Crouching to the dirt below to give her the opportunity to hop off of him.

His frills flapped a little as he stretched and then coiled around to face her. His large wyvern visage looking at her as she collected herself and he tasted the air with his forked tongue. It was nice being able to allow himself to just enjoy something simple. Something he could understand.

"That was... not bad. No. It was good. I'm always better at that action stuff than talking. I don't know why. Do you want me to take you somewhere? Or.... I don't know. You look kind of confused." The fact that he was pointing that out was a little surprising even to himself. His tail lashed against a tree and accidentally divested it of some bark.