Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

Aethii obligingly climbs up onto the bed, which groans loudly under her weight. "Is it supposed to do that?" She shifts herself back and forth a little. "This isn't bad. It's pretty comfortable."

[Deathkeeper]

Dragon Mountain

Edgar shakes his head. He realizes that he can't fit more than his head into this room. That's a little awkward.
"No, but being me means getting used to every piece of furniture you sit on loudly protesting your presence. You'll get used to it. Or not. Oh yeah, did you want to wrap yourself up or something?" Edgar finally gets through the lizard-brain and remembers that modesty is a thing people have when they're not dragons.

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

Aethii grabs the bedsheet and pulls it over herself. "Is that better? I'm still not really used to the whole clothes thing." It seems like she thought Edgar would prefer she be clothed. She hasn't really seemed to care.

[Deathkeeper]

Dragon Mountain

”Well, we’re alone so it doesn’t really matter. It was just a thought.
Oh, do you have a pool, too? I do really like water. But I actually haven’t had time to swim really at all, even since just the Tiger thing...” Aethii is a watery dragon, so surely her lair has some water? Or is near some.

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

Aethii's face lights up. "Oh, oh, oh, I have got to show you the lake. Come on, this way!" She gets up and waddles out the door as quickly as she can (which is not very quick at all). She leads Edgar through the passages. "My kind of dragons don't normally live in the mountains. But I found something up here that I thought was worth it."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Fort Aegis

Spako is practically vibrating over the little patchwork hatchling.
"Awww, he has down!" he coos as he strokes the wet down-feathers on the hatchling's head.
He whistles, and Kubo returns in a more usual kobold outfit (shorts). His uniform is a bit too susceptible to baby dragon drool stains. The kobold is carrying a number of shallow stone bowls. Normally they use more practical things for eating than these old-fashioned things...but baby dragons have a tendency to destroy anything made of less stern stuff. So they can eat on the stone-carver's practice works.
Nurse Kubo begins putting the baby-safe meat into the little bowls for the hatchlings who are feeling strong enough to get their first meal.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kubo. I guess this really isn't in your duties. You don't really have to-" "Nonsense, Master Algix! We only get to do this once in our lifetimes if at all. I'm just happy you picked me. They're all happy and pretty and shiny so far. A very good clutch, yes." the kobold nods, his look almost as proud as Spako's.

The last egg stubbornly refuses to budge.

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess lets out a happy little sigh and leans against Spako.

"W-we did good, didn't we?" He mumbles, watching as their little dragon babies gradually perk up at the smell of food. Fooooood.

Little babies are hungry.

Well, most of them are.

With the initial euphoria and having a wonderful clutch of babby dragons wearing off a little bit, Sylvess's attention finally turns back to the one remaining silent egg. He leans a little closer. He sniffs. He cautiously pokes it very gently with a claw. "A-are you alright in there little one? A-all your friends have come out already."

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Spako drapes his wings over the hatchlings as they start eating. They're messy and peep at the sudden dimming of light but stop protesting quickly as his wings are warm.
"I don't know if it's usual for them to hatch at the same time. Maybe that one wants their own birthday for themselves?"
A sudden realization hits him.
"Sylvess we didn't stock up on baby toys they'll destroy everything around them if we don't keep them entertained!"
Keeping baby dragons in a cave adjacent to a fancy spa might not be the best idea.
"Oh dear. I think we can at least find a ball for the wee ones." They are a good deal bigger than baby kobolds. What the village has lying around might be too small.

[Dragon Mountain]

Edgar follows Aethii incredulously. "A lake? You have a lake in your mountain?"
Just how big is this place?

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

"Not inside, well, you'll see." The passageway opens out into fresh air. Surrounded by mountains peaks is a clear lake. Narrow waterfalls run down the rocks to feed the hardy wildflowers that grow on the slopes. If dragons collect treasure, this place is a treasure unto itself.

[Deathkeeper]

[Dragon Mountain]

Edgar's eyes go wide.
"Wow, a secret lake. I can't believe you've managed to keep it hidden."
He strides forward to the shore. Slowly he dips a talon in.
"It must be awfully cold this time of year..."

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

"It's always cold, silly!" Aethii responds. It is very cold indeed. "It's great to cool down after a hard day. And in the summer the sun shines off the water like a big emerald!" Does Edgar dare go for a swim in the freezing lake?

[Deathkeeper]

Dragon Mountain

Now, at Edgar's currently massive size it is unlikely that cold water would bother him for that long. Especially being Aethii's more aquatic-ish dragon species he would likely do just fine.
But Edgar isn't quite feeling like he wants to go do that. Mostly because he hasn't been a dragon long enough for that to seem very appealing. Honestly he much rather feels like sitting someplace very warm.
"Well, it probably wouldn't be safe for you in all that cold water. We'll find somewhere more suitable for you to spend the night. Probably somewhere warm or you might find yourself a dragon in the morning feeling rather sick."
It would be a shame, that. Even though Aethii is herself rather well insulated under all that fur.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess tilts his head, giving Spako a confused look. "A-are they going to cause that much trouble that quickly, do you think?" He asks, shuffling round to take his share of wing duties. "I-it's not like they can fly immediately...can they? We can, um, put a fence up to keep them in here for now. A-and...maybe get some bones for them to gnaw on for the time being?"

Sylvess pauses and leans down, peering intently at the electrum dragon-baby, which meeps and shuffles back slightly.

"I-I can't tell how strong their teeth are. Are bones okay for babies? I love a good cow bone to crunch on, but I don't want to hurt them."

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

"Fly? Doesn't look like it. Get into small places and gnaw on things? Yes. Kubo, do we have any bones lying around?"
"Yes yes Master Algix, we'll find some of the non-splintery kind."
"Thanks Kubo. But uh. Maybe some round stuff. Like balls of foil. Things to pounce on."
See Spako, living with Cleo and her pile of hatchlings had its advantages after all! You know what dragonlings like.
To be fair those are little foxy serpent dragons, but he can't imagine it's that different.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

As they're talking, the brass baby, having taken all of about two bites of food, yawns and flops back with his eyes closed.

"Oh, uh, well if that one's anything to go by, we may not have much to worry about right now?" Sylvess suggests, hesitantly. "...I-I'm going to get very confused if we don't give them names pretty quickly. I-I forget where we're up to with that."

Sylvess, they all look completely different. How can you get confused?

He sighs and gives the last egg a little nudge. "W-when am I allowed to get concerned about this one?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

"Well!" Spako declares, reaching into his own little storage and pulling out a long list.
"We could name little Mei, well, Meirhine. I think being named after a goddess you're very sort-of related to would be nice. Oh, and I think I might name this guy Drassin, that was one of my friends from my home. You wanted one to be named after your dad, right?
And you wanted to give them Alrenn as our family name?"
See, Sylvess? Spako was paying attention to your requests. He shows the list to Sylvess. It's rather long, based on the proportion of girls, boys, and colors that could have been found in their clutch.

[bc56]

Dragon Mountain

"Sick? Oh, right." The prospect hadn't crossed Aethii's mind before. Dragons do not normally get sick. "Maybe we should go back inside, out of the cold."

[Deathkeeper]

Dragon Mountain

"Yeah, I'm immune to the cold, but you're not." Edgar says as if he totally didn't just remember that he's a cryomancer.
It's amazing how often he forgets that.
"We can always sleep off the effect. Or you can show me other cool things in the hoard!" he notes as he sits down to let her bumble her way back if she so chooses.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"O-oh, um, wow." Sylvess's eyes widen at the sight of the list as he starts reading through it. Goodness, he really was paying attention to all Sylvess's rambling about names!

"S-so I guess we've got uh, those ones, a-and that one, a-and-" He pokes at names with a claw as he goes down the list, glancing across at his adorable children.

...

Time passes.

The babies eat their fill and doze off, all tired from the hard work of breaking out of the eggs.

And still one egg stubbornly remains unhatched, with Sylvess staring obsessively at it, his snout mere inches away.

...

...

And then finally, finally it gives the faintest little wiggle.

"SPAKO! IT MOVED!" Sylvess shouts, sitting bolt upright, promptly disturbing half the children and earning a chorus of tired, confused, and annoyed baby dragon squeaks. "O-oops, sorry. Shush, it's o-okay little ones, go back to sleep."

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

The hatchlings eat their fill, and their parents as well once the news spreads of the hatchings. Despite Spako's insistence that the kobolds treat them as normal people who happen to be their managers, gifts and offerings continue to appear just outside Spako and Sylvess' chambers when they're not looking. Sweets, spiced meats, and at least one harness suspiciously Sylvess' exact size and with seven hatchling-sized pouches.
Spako starts up, talons scratching against the floor. Nasir, the silver boy, protests loudly from his place of being tucked around by Spako's tail.
"Are you sure? Definite? Positive?" he whispers excitedly to the copper dragon. Or well, the adult copper now.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"I-I, uh, maybe?" Sylvess replies, scratching his chin.

Beside him, Hiedorel, the gold female with remarkably developed horns, grumpily snuggles back up to Sylvess. "Oof, mind your horns there, little one!"

Anyway, back to the egg.

It remains silent and stationary juuust about long enough (several minutes at least) to make it seem like Sylvess is imagining things. And then finally, finally gives another faint little wiggle.

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

Spako smiles at little Hiedorelnamastiralrenn, despite the fact that he's not sure he'll ever call her by her full name. Sylvess' folk sure do like their long names. He thinks he'll call her Hiedie.
That egg still is slow, though. Sadly he doesn't trust the safety of Haste spells on tiny hatchlings.
Bump.
"Sylvess I think we might still be here for a while." hisses Spako.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

On it goes. Watching. Waiting.

The babies disturbed by Sylvess's outburst settle down soon enough, and then it's just the two adults left to observe.

Compared to how quick some of the others were in getting out once they started moving, this last one sure seems to be taking its time.

Bump.

Wiggle.

Tap.

Tap tap.

While normally quite impatient, Sylvess seems remarkably still, mesmerised by the slow progress of this final egg.

"Come on. Come on, little one. You can do it."

Tap. Tap. Crack.

Finally a fracture forms in the eggshell. With each tap it widens, splits, grows, until the top of the egg is a mess of cracks and finally gives way.

...

"S-Spako. Um. W-what did we do?" Sylvess asks, his mouth open, his eyes wide in disbelief as a little baby platinum dragon crawls out of the egg.

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

Spako is not nearly so motionless. He paces endlessly. In fact he almost immediately pounces upon the child with a soft cloth to wipe the egg goo off of her.
”Sylvess! That’s not nice to say about our daughter! She’s a little different shaped than Nasir but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Spako looks between the silver boy and the new girl. Just a little different color, a little different shape. He can’t tell at all why Sylvess is so horrified. She looks so noble!
Honestly if she had a bit more muscle on her she could pose just like all those statues in the temples for Apsu.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"N- N-No. S-Spako, y-you don't understand!" Uh oh, he's raising his voice again. Bhoreldisalrenn, the mixed-colour boy, squirms a little beside him.

"R-right. Right. Babies."

He leans in towards Spako and lowers his voice. "S-Spako, she's a platinum dragon. I think we just made a god baby."

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

Spako stares. Slowly he leans down and gives the child a look and a sniff with his metal-sensing dragony nose.
”Oh. Ooooooh.” He pivots and waves his flank at Sylvess.
”Those three little scales on my flank. Do they look bronze to you? Because I kinda thought they looked bronze. So that could be it. That would make me all five metals. Um. Do you think Winry pranked us?” He shakes his head.
”But there was no light! No choir, no messengers. She’s a sacred metal, but we’d know if she was a goddess.”
Still a very sacred hatchling.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sylvess blinks and gives Spako a very confused look. "Wh- S-Spako, this isn't some story you read in a book o-or some legend or something, y-you don't get angelic choirs a-and messengers a-and all that! She's just- I- l-look, I hope you're right and she's a sacred metal, but we can't rule out that we didn't accidentally give birth to a deity just because there's no, uh, no angel telling us so."

He pauses and scratches his chin thoughtfully. "I-if she did just prank us, I-I guess we could...maybe risk calling upon her again to ask her? That way at least we'd know."

[Deathkeeper]

Fort Aegis

"Sylvess, remember where we live. Every story you've read in a book has happened somewhere."
"Besides, divine messengers are totally a thing. They show up at Inari's all the time." Spako's never been there, but it's sort of a well-known thing that Myobi and Myobu used to drop by far more frequently than one might expect from their status.
"Personally, I don't think the how matters. And I frankly don't want to risk waking up with another clutch. We'll just keep a lookout for anything miraculous. Everyone knows that miracles happen around new deities."
Hopefully she won't start pulling a Hermes routine.
"But I'm sure she'll be fine. Won't you, sweetie?" Oh no Spako is sitting back on his haunches and snuggling the hatchling in the little towel. He has that right as the one whose egg it was, doesn't he?

[FireFox]

[Vulpan Keep - Atrium]

Someone's glad as hell she kept a certain set of planar coordinates handy for HALO's teleport rings, because it's the reason she's arriving here. She hasn't been at the Keep much beyond a time or two. The dead-mom style of her hair and the glasses are new, but the amber eyes, fading scars, and shaggy vulture wings aren't. Caroline Andrews, effectively adopted daughter of Tobias Vulpan, has come home.

"... Gotta ask Dad for the wifi password."

Not many people arrive at Vulpan Keep in the atrium set up for teleportation and the ones that do are either VIPs or on urgent Crown business. There's no queue for Carrie to worry about, just a well dressed man presenting papers to a young officer at the end of the hall. Two Guardsmen in light armor and armed with crossbows stand at the door out of the atrium. Two more, in heavy plate with visors made of opaque crystal and armed with halberds, stand by the wall close to her where they can usher travelers off the teleportation circles and towards the checkpoint. All four soldiers look up as she appears. They don't seem to recognize her, but her wings stand out and lend a fair assumption she's important so they come to attention. A crystal set in the ceiling pulses, washing her with light. It must have identified her magically and then communicated to the Guardsmen, for they all stiffen further in surprise and salute her. The officer drops his stamp on top of the visitor's papers and knocks over his chair in his rush to greet her formally.

"Welcome home, Princess Caroline. Your personal Guard has been summoned. They... We weren't expecting you, your Highness."

[Beans]

[Vulpan Keep - Atrium]

Carrie waves a hand in forgiving dismissal. "Nah, you're fine. Honestly kind of glad for not having a full, like, red carpet and trumpets thi---oh gods I really am full princess now, aren't I?" She glances about at the fuss she's caused, wondering what the heck her personal guard even is.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"I-If you say so, Spako. I trust you." Sylvess lets out a heavy sigh and leans in to give his platinum daughter a brief nuzzle as well. "B-but no favoritism, remember? I-I mean, uh, not too much anyway. I-I suspect I might show a bit of favoritism to, um-"

Sylvess pauses and looks around, then carefully loops his tail round the copper baby.

"to little Imbaerisendovalrenn here."