The flight from Lyre/Animalia to Dallas was about what could be expected for Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline. They'd enjoyed Christmas break and enjoyed what time they could set aside for more intimate fun with their bond-mates that wasn't easy to do in their freshman dorms at the SMU campus, as well as enjoying the various Christmas festivities that were there. Some of those things had been difficult to deal with as the pandemic had cut down on shopping and most of what they'd done for that was online. Sophie had been a bit on edge because of how things had changed as fall had moved into the Christmas season, but thankfully things went well and JC and Pauline seemed to like their gifts and Sophie liked the gifts she'd gotten from them and from her parents, and especially from Roland.
But the last few days of Christmas Break were then dominated by giving flight lessons to a Buzz Rainfield who'd joined Animalia as a Pteranodon Dinotopian. To some degree the Bat Animalians that handled their flight lessons could help to a degree as Pterosaurs and Bats functioned in much the same way when it came to taking off from the ground, but Pterosaurs had things that Bats didn't have, namely a long beak and a different set of equilibrium that would be critical while in flight. Occasionally one of the Bat Animalians was present, but they'd often found that the head positioning for them didn't help Buzz while practicing his flying and that Sophie and Roland's placement was more appropriate. The lessons went relatively well and Buzz had reached a point where he could easily fly inside the Claw Coliseum and maneuver around things without crashing, which was good. The only thing they really hadn't gotten to was flying outside, though northwestern Nevada was cold enough that Buzz didn't want to be outside.
"And you're still going to have to teach him?" Pauline asked as they collected their luggage to look back and see Buzz struggling to get a duffel bag out of the overhead compartment.
"He's getting better," Sophie answered, "and I think he should be fine... though how well that sticks may be a different issue."
"And at the same time, we do have to get back to campus," Roland added, "the WSA kids went back just after the New Year started, and our spring semester isn't that far off."
"Thankfully Texas will be warmer than Nevada," JC commented, "though... mother... he does understand your college schedule?"
Sophie looked back to seeing Buzz approach them with his bag under his arm and gave her own comment, "we did tell him. Whether or not he fully catches on is a different issue."
Buzz, meanwhile, felt fairly pleased with his progress and was glad to be back in a place where there was a warmer climate. He'd need a ride back to Dino City, as he'd found that his crest on the back of his skull was too long for him to use the vehicle that he'd owned before his conversion. He'd gotten a ride to the Dallas airport from one of the staff members that worked for Dino City's Horizon Office in one of their test vehicles for Dinotopians, and he did like the headroom, though he couldn't quite remember the person's name. But with his feelings of success at his flight lessons, he wasn't about to complain.
"So... you're all family?" Buzz asked, having picked up on JC calling Sophie, mother.
"In a way," Sophie answered, "JC was my pet African Gray Parrot. He didn't get caught up in the original outbreak in Lyre because I'd only fed him bottled water and then I didn't want to lose him. Though when Roland and I became Pterodactyls, I couldn't just keep JC as a mundane parrot... as while I've loved him and wanted to keep him safe, there was some recognition that many of the uplifted Animalians still lived happy and healthy lives with their former owners. One of my friends became sisters with her former pet. Though... JC has seen me more as a maternal figure."
"You raised me," JC smiled to Sophie.
"I was a pet to a different family that couldn't keep me where they were moving to," Pauline spoke, "so I was uplifted and moved in with JC and became his mate."
"I am a friend of Sophie and her family... and after a very pleasant Valentines Day dance during our freshman year in high school, we became boyfriend and girlfriend," Roland answered, "and then mates some time after we became Dinotopians."
"Interesting... though... other than the coloring," Buzz commented as he looked to JC and Pauline, "You don't look like Gray Parrots."
"We were uplifted to become Microraptor Dinotopians," JC answered, "part of Horizon's questions on if they could uplift an animal into an Animalian other than that specific species and moving backward in evolution was the reasoning. And it worked."
"Though for now, there we'll need to get to the baggage claim," Sophie spoke as she began to lead the group off the plane and into the gangway that would take them into the airport, "Heather gave me a call to say that she wouldn't be able to pick us up, but they had sent someone else and that she'd have some other business to discuss. And that's okay, but given timing and parking, it'll be best if we keep up the pace."
They walked along and came out into the gate area. Normally this area would be busy with activity with people either waiting for flights or visiting shopping or dining areas that were provided while people waited for their flights, and there were some people there. But for a city like Dallas and the traffic that would go in and out of one of Texas's largest cities, the crowd was small and subdued. This let them go down an escalator and go to the baggage claim. Buzz didn't have that much, as he'd apparently come up to Lyre without much beyond the back he was presently carrying. Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline, needing to pick up some additional things for college had other bags and things to pick up, and so they got in line and collected their bags as quickly as they could while Buzz stood by near where the doors were. For the moment he couldn't see anyone from Dino City around in the waiting area.
"I don't see anyone," Buzz said slowly.
"Our ride is probably outside," Sophie answered, "Heather didn't come in when she took us here..."
"Okay," Buzz managed as Sophie and her mate and friends began to head out.
The air was cool, but still warmer than northern Nevada, and there was a decent line of cars along the curb, which Buzz took as something they couldn't use for the moment. Eventually he could pick out the larger van/bus type vehicle that had been built for Dinotopians and larger Animalians. For the moment he didn't see anyone inside it, but Buzz thought he saw someone seated in the driver's seat. He then pointed over Sophie and Roland's head toward the vehicle.
"You were right," Buzz announced and they aren't too far away!"
"Good," Pauline answered referring to the things she was carrying, "all this stuff and my feathers do NOT mix."
"More that walking with them doesn't mix," JC corrected, noting the flight feathers on his and Pauline's legs.
Buzz ignored that part as they crossed the road and began to make their way into the parking lot that was there. There were other cars present, but things weren't too busy at that time and he was able to lead the way with Sophie and Roland following behind. As he got closer to where the specialized van was the door opened and the figure inside stepped out. She was fully dressed, with pants and a light jacket, but there were other things that stood out. The biggest thing was her height. Sophie and Roland were about the same height as a normal Human, as they likely didn't shrink when they became Dinotopians, and that meant that Buzz wasn't that much taller than them, and a good portion of his height was the long pointed crest on the back of his skull. This new Dinotopian towered over them and was closer to Jeremy or Heather Green in terms of height. Only the long toothless beak indicated that this Dinotopian was a Pterosaur Dinotopian.
"Hello... you are Sophie and Roland, yes?" the giant Pterosaur Dinotopian asked. She held out a key in one hand that then popped the back trunk to the vehicle. The four college students were quick to do so.
"Yes, this JS and Pauline," Sophie spoke, "and you are...?"
"Quetzal," the giant Pterosaur Dinotopian answered, "I was one of the group that Miss Fabina in Lyre/Animalia recover from some rather... artificial business practices."
"And you became a Quetzalcoatlus, I take it?" Sophie asked.
"Yes... and I was hoping to meet you," Quetzal answered, "for you see... Doctor Ramos is quite friendly and has helped with some things in terms of how I'm built now... but there are other questions he has."
"Namely to see if you can fly, I suspect," Sophie commented with Roland nodding in agreement. Quetzal nodded and it was after this reply that Sophie continued. Her voice was a bit uneasy as she wasn't experienced as as a teacher and neither was she taking courses to be a teacher at SMU. Most of her courses were divided between science and journalism courses. "Well... Roland and I can help, we've done okay with Buzz, here, and he'll be moving on to the next stage of his own flight training... Though you must understand that we're college students, so our days need to be flexible to take our class schedules into account."
"Yes, Doctor Green said something like that when I'd offered to be your driver that I was to take you to SMU before taking Buzz back to Dino City," Quetzal commented, "and I can manage. Doctor Ramos's wife has actually gotten their local club to offer me a part time position on some nights for the moment. Serving drinks and talking with people is a bit different from what my last job was... but it has been friendly and for the most part free of confrontation."
"And you can work around our class schedule?" Roland asked, "as we can't go down to Dino City every day and the time would give to flying lessons during the week day would be limited."
"Yeah they worked out a whole schedule that would have me come up from Dino City to Dallas and then have my last lessons," Buzz spoke up and then begun digging around in his own bag, which he had slung over his shoulder. Eventually he found some crackling paper, which DID hold the schedule on it and presented it to Quetzal.
She took it and looked at it with some intent. Most of the times were in the afternoon, though at varying times in the day. There seemed to be some days where things started rather late in the afternoon while there were other days where they started early but also had to be done by four PM, and this was often marked with a "because class" note. Quetzal understood this and nodded her beak.
"I believe I can meet this sort of schedule," Quetzal spoke, "though I believe Doctor Ramos would also like to observe and had someone that either works with him... or has worked in his field that would like to see if I can fly too."
"Heather, Jeremy, Rex, and Tyra should have our emails or our phone numbers," Roland assured her, "It's a long story... but if they wish... they contact us, though while we're resuming classes here, we can't be leaving campus much."
Again Quetzal nodded with acceptance of that and then moved to hand the paper back to Buzz, who seemed not to notice that the paper was being returned to them. He had a sort of blank look in his eyes as he looked up to her. Some of it was Quetzal's impressive height, which while it wasn't as tall as the actual pterosaur was in the fossil record, it was on par with the Giraffe Animalians in Lyre/Animalia and Maelewano or with Jeremy and Heather in Dino City, which was practically towering over Buzz, Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline. And then there were Quetzal's breasts. While they were fully covered, they did stretch the specialized tee-shirt and jacket that she was wearing and it would be impossible to not notice their raw size.
He'd found Sophie to be just as voluptuous as any other adult Animalian, but he'd also found that she had a bond mate in Roland and one that seemed very strong. Buzz wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the tool box, but he was smart enough to not make a pass at one who already had a male lover and might fight to defend that "bond." Standing beneath Quetzal gave Buzz the ability to compare the two females, and while Sophie was plenty curvy she was smaller than Quetzal in terms of the raw size, though a lot of that was probably because Quetzalcoatlus was larger than Pterodactylus, as they were proportionately the same size. Quetzal's greater height and muscle mass gave her the appearance of a larger size when standing next to Sophie.
"A-hem," Quetzal said to Buzz and snapping him out of it, "I appreciate the attention... but not right now."
"Of course... sorry," Buzz managed.
"Anyway, my instructions are to take you to your college, SMU, here in Dallas," Quetzal spoke, "before driving the guy that nearly won a Darwin Award back to Dino City."