Juniper | Demi-boy (he/they) | 17 | Rider
M: Henry (Dir), Rhyhor, Dragons, + Riders (Ind)
“Breathe.”
“I’m breathing.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am breathing!”
“Are you absolutely sure,” Henry said with a chuckle as he poked Juniper in the cheek, “because from here, it looks like your whole face is going blue from not breathing.”
Juniper waved Henry’s hand off with a small huff, only causing his older brother to chuckle more. This was Juniper’s first time out of the Valley he had been raised and he was one of the lucky few who was given a chance to meet a dragon to bond with. As Juniper’s cape swished behind him, the very idea of not only having a friend but a dragon sent him into excited chills. Juniper ran the idea through their brain over and over like a candy maker pulling on taffy again and again to make it perfect. It was such a sweet idea too. Even with the possibility of not actually receiving a dragon ever present and looming over his head like with what happened with his older sister, Falla, Juniper was hopeful, no, certain, that he would make a bond with a dragon today just like his older brother and mother who both had incredible dragon companions. Juniper still wondered how his older brother dealt with leaving the Valley for the first time. Juniper had been shaking almost every step of their journey to the Choosing Ceremony, analyzing the buildings that looked so much different, smaller, and more busy compared to his own while Henry looked relaxed— perhaps even comfortable— with the chaos of the outside world as he held his guitar case over his shoulder with the calm, care-free attitude he seemed to always have. Though they supposed that the chaos of the city was not all that different from the busyness of life in the Valley, Juniper could only imagine how his brother must have been so much more confident than Juniper on his first outing in the real world.
Everything out of the Valley was so new and overwhelming that Juniper felt dizzy with excitement.
“You’re forgetting to breathe again,” Henry noted with a sigh, flicking the side of Juniper’s head and startling them.
“Sorry, I just—” Juniper began using hand motions to attempt to explain his excitement, rolling from the front of his feet to the back of his feet as a giddy smile only grew on his face. Juniper glanced excitedly at the town as kids ran by laughter and strange toys, people wore clothes entirely different to their own, and the smells of something foul but unique and new had consumed their senses with a beaming smile before flicking their eyes back to Henry as their hands began to flick and shake as their happy stimming. “You know??”
Henry nodded slowly, doing his best to translate Juniper’s non-verbal communication before chuckling faintly. “If you’re trying to say what I think you’re trying to say, yeah, it’s pretty damn exciting. Finding your dragon is pretty nerve wracking and comes with its challenges of figuring out someone who is a lot more complex than either of us are probably used to.” Henry thought for a moment, trying to choose his words wisely to best express his point. “But if you can work with traumatized foxes, help violent kittens, and deal with Keddan and his stupid fucking—”
“Language.”
“Right, sorry,” Henry mumbled softly with a huff before continuing. “And you can deal with Keddan’s stupid freakin’ pranks, you can befriend your dragon.” Henry smiled fondly. “I mean, you know Rhy. I think he used to hate me!!” Henry sighed, shifting his grip on his guitar as he looked up at the sky with his happy smile as if Rhy was flying somewhere above him. Juniper instinctively looked up as well even though they knew nothing was up there. “It takes time to get to know your dragon, but it is all worth it because you get to have a companion for the rest of your life. Even if you don’t bond with a dragon, I am sure Rhy wouldn’t mind giving you a ride around once in a while.” Henry paused before looking back at Juniper and gently clapping them on the back (though Henry’s definition of ‘gently’ is much different compared to most people’s). “But whatever happens today, you’re going to have so much fun regardless, I promise!”
“Thanks, Henry,” Juniper mumbled softly, looking up at him with a warm smile as Henry placed a hand on Juniper’s shoulder.
“O’ ‘course, Juni,” Henry mumbled before sighing dramatically as he leaned his whole weight into Juniper, nearly crushing them as they were caught off guard by the sudden weight. “And to think my little sibling—” Juniper beamed as the word ‘sibling’ was used— “is one step closer to partyin’ it up in Dragon Academy of Ederia like it’s the Bright Ages, causing havoc by accidentally setting fire to the hall, and scoring on chicks— or dudes or whoever— to getting dirty in the sheets with.”
Juniper stared blankly at Henry as he said the last part of his statement before chuckling softly as he shoved Henry off of themself and continued walking. “Henry, I am not a little kid. I’m not gonna wet the bed or anything.”
“Juni— oh you poor sweet thing,” Henry spoke after a moment though he himself was not constantly oblivious to things like that. “I did not mean ‘dirty the bed’ in that sense.”
Juniper narrowed his eyes at his older brother in confusion.
Henry stopped in his tracks and set his guitar case down and began to shimmy his shoulders as if that motion would help him understand before trying to think of a term his sibling might know it as. “Getting it on?”
“What?”
Henry began to move his hips, doing an odd dance that could be best summed up as someone who watched exotic or erotic dancing through a kaleidoscope and tried to imitate it. A few passing women and men began to stare, looking over Henry like he was pure eye candy to them. “Like— getting jiggy with it??”
“Henry, people are staring…!” Juniper whined trying to hide his face from the crowd of people around them, some of whom reached to pull out their wallets, so he would not be associated with that man whose name Juniper was unwilling to even say. “What are you even saying??”
Groaning in frustration, Henry finally stopped his dance thing— Juniper thanking the gods that his torture was over. “How do you not know what I am talking about??”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Juniper replied with a wide smile before throwing his arms up dramatically, “but maybe it’s because you’re using words like ‘getting jiggy with it’? Maybe that’s why I’m not understanding it, Henry!”
“Well, fine,” Henry replied with a huff, folding his arms as he shook his head at Juniper, “let me make it simpler for you: when two people— or more if you’re into that, again I don’t judge— love each other very much—”
“You were talking about sex? This whole time you were—” Juniper cut themself off as they were flooded with embarrassment as they drew in a shaky breath. Pulling back his fist, winding up his punch, and releasing it into Henry’s arm, even the wall that was Henry was forced to stumble back with a loud ‘ow!’ from the force of Juniper’s punch. “That’s for being a weirdo in front of so many people!!” Juniper quickly turned away from Henry defiantly, wanting to shrivel up and disappear as he began grumbling. “I think I would have preferred if Pa took me to the Choosing Ceremony…”
“Oh, come on…!” Henry mumbled with a whine, his expression looking like that of a wounded puppy dog as he walked— stumbled— closer to Juniper as overdramatically as possible to gain pity. “I’m not that bad am I?”
“Yes, yes, you are!” Juniper hissed, still not willing to look at Henry after his previous prediction about what Juniper might do while at the Academy. “And don’t come any closer or I will kick your shins in, you unsalted meat slab!!”
“Can I at least hug my wittle itty bitty sibwing goodbye before their big ceremony?~” Henry mumbled with a pout as he jutted out his lip to look more sad.
Although Juniper hated the tone of which he used those words, Juniper was still happy to be called ‘sibling’ and, with a sigh of defeat, caved in to his older brother’s request and awkwardly opened their arms for Henry. Henry laughed happily, practically barreling into Juniper before picking them up and swinging them around like a little girl would with a doll. Pretty soon enough, Juniper was giggling like a maniac from the hug as Henry’s hearty chuckles felt incredibly contagious, not caring if people were still watching anymore. When Henry finally set Juniper down who adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, Juniper was given no break from the brotherly-love as his hair was ruffled until it looked like a bird’s nest.
“Go crush it out there today, alright?” Henry instructed with a warm smile. “And don’t forget that it is just like greeting a new member of the family. And don’t forget that no matter what happens everyone loves you back at home. And don’t—”
“And don’t forget to breathe?” Juniper interrupted with a sigh, having heard all the same things millions of times before.
“No,” Henry smiled as he shook his head. “Don’t forget to have fun.”
Henry picked up the guitar case he had set down on the ground and heaved it over his shoulder as Juniper looked down at their feet. Clicking their boots together, they spent a moment just to process the words. Have fun. Yeah, this was supposed to be fun. Juniper smiled to themself before nodding. They could do this.
As Juniper looked up, Henry was already walking again and Juniper trotted a few steps to catch up with a beaming smile brighter than the gold family crest etched into the back of his green cape, the same crest written into the bandanna Henry wore around his bulky biceps, and the same one that belonged to the Grenleff family.
~~~
“Alright, I gotta go check if your squad leader is here yet so I can talk to him about ‘official business meeting stuff—’” Juniper could not help but roll his eyes even as Henry used major air quotes— “while you stay here and wait for what your orders are, okay? Just shout if you need anything and good luck.”
“Alright, alright! For the millionth time, I’ll be okay! Just go find your buddy and I will try to make a new one!” Juniper giggled, visibly shaking from excitement as Juniper had to hold onto their clothes to stop themself from stimming so much.
“You’ll do great!!”
“I know!”
The two of them had exited town a while ago and had traveled into a valley, one not too dissimilar from the one from the valley Juniper grew up in though it was much smaller and filled with trees and brush. It was a pain to get to the center of the valley where the Choosing would begin but, by the gods, the center was beautiful: an open field with long grass that tickled Juniper’s hands as he ran them over the gentle blades. The long, tan grass grew shorter and greener the closer to the center one walked and the field smelled sweet in a way, as if honey had been drizzled over the ground. As Juniper stared down at the ground to find flowers that were entirely new to him poking between the grass, large, ominous shadows flew overhead, blocking out the sun entirely as they swarmed above.
Dragons.
So many other humans had already arrived and Juniper was just another one who had appeared. Juniper stood a bit farther away from the other humans but did their best to be as friendly as possible and wave to any who looked their way, looking up at the sky nervously and excitedly every time a dragon flew overhead.
Summer Month: 2 
Day 
