Iris gazed dreamily out at the wide expanse of space, pondering, not for the first time, the whats and hows of the whole huge thing. It was a pointless wandering of her mind, but it kept the dragoness from thinking about what she was taking part in... how she was tainting her perfection and good family standing. Not only had she hosted an Ake Asant on the Chxalli island, but she was riding in a stolen ship... towards a bonding that she had not had approved by the council of elders. Of course, it was Ghwen that had talked her into it all, as Iris's perfectly clean mind could have never come up with such rebellious plans... the fact that she wasn't enjoying the whole thing troubled Iris.

"Look at that," Ghwen exclaimed softly, giving her friend a good poke. Iris shifted her gaze to take in the tirelessly spinning Star City Space Station. Ghwen seemed fascinated by the place, but to Iris it look ugly and unnatural. She didn't want to think about how it would be on the inside, without the open air, surrounded by metal and walls... "Have you ever seen anything so magnificent?" Iris didn't answer, and Ghwen ignored her while she docked the ship. What would they be doing now that they had come in? The bonding that they had come for, being held at the Abstract Destiny, was weeks away... and surely there wasn't much to do here. Iris knew that she would not be able to go through with any kind of bonding if she was given too much time to think about it. Her heart wasn't in it, though the adventure had stirred her mischievous nature from its slumber.

Ghwen was clearly excited, and as soon as her grandmother's ship was settled she was out the door, all colors and feathers. Iris followed a bit more slowly, wishing that she could find some place to open up her wings and get in a good fly.

"Not everyone has an eternity to..." Ghwen began when Iris appeared, she stopped when she noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her friend's eyes. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, come on," Iris brushed away her friend's concern, aware that she was dampening Ghwen's excitement. The Ake Asant moved slow enough to match Iris's pace, and despite the crowd that they were forced to wade through kept her eyes on her friend. Ghwen couldn't help but wonder if it had been a bad idea to bring Iris with her... what was going on in that dragoness' mind?

"Hey," Iris said, once they had found a place to get out of the foot traffic. "Did you see?"

"See what?"

"It thought that I saw something saying that the Star City Dragonry is reopening with a flight," Iris was staring back the way that they had come, but she couldn't see the annoucement that her perked her interest anymore. "Have you heard anything about that, Ghwen?" The other dragoness shook her head.

"I guess it is possible... but I would have thought that the Jhiirsaiian archives would have had something about it."

"Maybe I read the message wrong," Iris said thoughtfully. "I am afraid I couldn't see it very well."

"Well," Ghwen cut in. "Why don't we go sign up for our clutch and go find out about it?" Iris shook her head, finally decided.

"You go," she said. "I will meet your back at the ship later." Ghwen gave her friend a hurt look, but Iris dismissed herself anyway. Ghwen stared after her companion but couldn't find the drive to follow her. She had been wrong to bring Iris here, she wasn't ready to bond... she didn't feel the need that Ghwen had been suffering from. The hole that Ghwen's family had made in her needed to be filled by something... a bond would give her a partner that she could depend on... a family member that wasn't so obsessed with the darker shades of life. If she could only find the right dragon... Ghwen knew things would get better for her. She had to let Iris go if she was going to save herself.

Iris had, in fact been suffering from another desire, though the thought hadn't occurred to her until she thought that she had seen that announcement about the SCD flight. She slid through the crowds more easily now that she had distanced herself from bonding. She was going to sign up for that flight...