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'Beautiful' was not a word F'ell commonly heard from people when they described Teth, and it caused the teen to open his eyes wide in surprise. A faint creep of color spread over his face, but it quickly vanished as he cleared his throat and a scowl pressed back to his lips. "...thank you." Was his voice okay? He hoped the shock wasn't showing, and he mentally warned Teth not to say anything.

Thankfully the dragon was just focusing on Aerden and his thoughts were all about the happiness of having this new friend. Yes I'm Teth!! Mine is F'ell! He doesn't talk much but I talk for him!! I really like your smell, and your marks!! F'ell mine likes markings a lot, so he likes you a lot already. F'ell's heart skipped a little, and he warned Teth to shut up. But you can't swim?? I can swim and if you want you can hold on to me and ride me as I swim!! Mine wouldn't mind at all, he likes when I'm happy and if you're with me I'd be happy.

Teth moved as close as possible to Aerden, to make sure his new friend could touch him properly if he wanted. Most people were too scared to touch Teth and always shied away from him; whether it was his size or personality or a combination of both was an unknown factor.

There had been excitement brewing inside the brown dragon, his hopes leaping at every word spoken by the candidate, though they came all crashing down when he said the most horrible words ever: not right now. It clearly hit Teth hard, as his wings drooped and his whole body posture shifted to look like a creature in mourning. F'ell would have found it adorable and endearing if it wasn't such a common occurrence. But....but why not now? Aren't there others who can stay and watch? I want to swim with you now. The big brown let his eyes whirl yellow with sadness as his body drooped, though if Aerden took the moment to look he'd notice F'ell was almost yawning. The dragon was being dramatic to say the least. There might not be a later!!! You might forget your promise to me!!

"Teth." This was the rider's cue to speak up, and F'ell did. Teth was getting himself worked up over nothing, and there was a nagging in the back of the teen's mind over some self-inflicted distress. "He is...a candidate. He....won't leave here." He could have spoken to his dragon alone, but that would leave the poor confused man out of the loop and maybe he wanted it to look like he had some semblance of command over his beast. A little bit anyway. "And...well." What else was he going to say? Teth had nearly ripped his clothes over him not arriving in time, saying he'd forgotten a promise, so what would happen to this Aerden? Something he didn't want. "Teth, do you...under....sde....derstand?"

The brown exhaled and sent Aerden's clothing and hair ruffling. But I want to swim now. It's hot and why don't you just let him swim with me? He's my friend and I love him and I want him to swim. The brown's tail started to swish back and forth in a pouting rhythm, though his eyes where their former happy blue.

Am I really your first????? Does this mean I'm your best too???? The amount of emotional whiplash that Teth was creating would cause any person's head to spin, and F'ell felt himself grimace. Despite the turns they'd been together and their unbreakable emotional connection there were still moments when the rider was nearly bowled over by his dragon's feelings. F'ellmine you better not forget!!! Please don't!!! Teth's massive wedge-shaped head was all but yanked from in front of Aerden to look at F'ell, the blue in his eyes swirling feverishly.

F'ell placed a hand against the soft hide, his fingers tensing up in a weird little scratch-rub that he knew his lifemate enjoyed. Yes, I promise. He's not going away, and he'll be here whenever we drop off supplies. It was so easy to comfort his dragon with his thoughts but it really, really left anyone else out of the conversation. Tetth's completely open thoughts usually prevented that, and F'ell was coming to understand that whenever had to be involved in talking he'd have to do it aloud. Difficult and unwanted, but not impossible.

It would also help explain more of Teth's actions, since his reply had prompted the brown to bugle. Without proper explanation it might have seemed a bit....off. "I....I toltoltold him yes. Yo...you are planninplanning on being here....more, right? With...Vvvveena." He knew the name of the Masterhealer at the very least, plus that of her children. A few other healer names were known, but not too many. "Y...You ar..are more than welwelwelcome to be with Teth whenever you want." He had to look away after speaking, finding it a bit hard to look Aerden in the face. Conversations were not his forte and honestly, this was the most he'd spoken in a long time.