[PRP] Snack Date! (Nadry/Ichta+Dragons)

[Meepfur]

While between remained off-limits for now, flying at least was safe.  Menankith certainly needed the exercise, after all the time  he'd been grounded and off active duty, and it was good to get fresh air to fight off any feelings of being cooped up or restless.  It wouldn't be long before the appeal waned, with winter soon to be upon them, so best to take advantage of it before the chill got to be too much.

And before getting on and off a dragon became too much trouble.  Nadry was certainly not looking forward to that, as it would mean a return to hiking up and down the stairs, which barely sounded any better than climbing on and off a dragon.  Ohh, she was out of breath just thinking about it!  On the one hand, she was eager for all of this to just be over already, but there was also a looming panic about it all.  She was back and forth on a daily if not hourly basis as to whether she was happy or terrified, but she had been doing her best to avoid excessive meltdowns.  Sometimes she could even make it almost a whole sevenday with crying for some reason! (Or no reason, that was a thing too.  A very annoying one.)

But today was good!  She and Menankith had had a nice little outing, she'd picked up some cookies from the kitchens, and it was time for a friend date!  Menankith bugled happily as they approached their friends' ledge, a vocalization that soon turned to a warble once he'd landed and craned his nose to boop Aurinkoth with all due affection.  He was otherwise still for as long as it took for Nadry to slide carefully down with her bag of snacks. Hello! he greeted Aurinkoth and His with waves of good cheer, his eyes a bright and happy blue.

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[demon_pachabel]

Company! Aurinkoth greeted brightly, half prancing about the ledge he shared with Elzebuth. His eyes whirled greens and blues as his brother came in for a landing, barely able to contain himself to keep from being absolutely underfoot as Menankith settled, all snuffles and interest in Nadry's ever changing condition as the young woman dismounted.

He also had been hopeful that the treats she had brought had included something sweet and maybe in the form of fruit. It had only taken one time of G'ran coming with fruit for the blue to have to make sure he wasn't letting any sneak under his nose. Despite cookies not being fruit, Aurinkoth still offered Nadry a small, adoring nudge with his nose before leaning up to bump his head into Menankith's.

You're here! he bugled excitedly, all but vibrating at this point.

"You'd think he didn't get to see other dragons ever," Ichta mused from inside, setting a pile of linens to be sent off on a chair to clear some room off the bed so it could be sat on. There was no subtlety in how her eyes lingered on her dearest friend's stomach even now, as though she was seeing it for the first time every time she looked. A baby. Oh, how her own fear and Aurinkoth's excitement duked it out all the time about it. But it would be fine - right?

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Well hello to you, too!" Being whuffled by curious dragons was practically a daily occurence by this point, but luckily, it was an endearing one: somehow it felt like much less of an invasion of space than when a person outside of a select handful tried to get all touchy (which didn't happen much, thank Faranth). She gave him all due scritches and coos as he snuffled, and even opened the bag so he could see for sure that yes, sorry, it was only cookies.

Menankith wriggled and honked at his bestest blue brother, and as soon as His had moved inside, commenced an excited little circle-dance that would quickly turn into cuddling overtures. We are! he confirmed - no, really? - as he thrummed with absolute delight. He, too, was the vessel for all the excitement because Egg! And also friend time.

"I swear, he loses every ounce of dignity when he gets excited," Nadry said fondly of her own dragon, shaking her head at the pair. And he was worst with Aurinkoth, by far, because there wasn't the slightest need for any pretense or concern about appearances. It was like he turned into a sponge for the infectious cheer.

Her smile turned a little self-conscious at the obvious focus of Ichta's gaze, though she certainly didn't mind. She shrugged and looked down at it herself, giving a nervous laugh. "I know, right? Still there."

Still terrifying~

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Ichta watched Aurinkoth prancing around his brother, pleased that the larger ledge he shared with Elzebuth left the two enough room for at least a little bit of play - especially when the other brown was.....hmm, she could have made a guess as to where he was as of late.

"Dignity is for people who are going to judge you - I don't think Aurinkoth has ever had any," Ichta's words were all love for the blue, who answered her with a flood of affection. How those waters had smoothed out the barbed edges of her own nerves. She was certain she couldn't live a life without that constant steam now.

She couldn't help but be a little sheepish when Nadry spoke up on what she was, quite obviously, looking at. "They're definitely not all the cookies." Though if it had been the cookies, maybe Ichta - who had never been too much of a lover of sweets before Nadry - would have been looking a touch the same.

Aurinkoth hummed, looking from Menankith to Nadry again. Human eggs take a long time, he noted, looking to Menankith again, Just one! So long! but he didn't sound upset - more surprised and confused. He and Ichta hadn't had much talk about eggs after all.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Fair enough," Nadry agreed. The bright blue couldn't have been more endearing, however he managed it. "Menankith would be a lot different without him, I think." The brown was still and always would be, at his core, the determined revolutionary, but Aurinkoth had helped to teach him how to see and indulge in some of the joys of the world - and Elzebuth, of course, had ever been a voice for indulgence. And with Macuith and Viandarth, well...he was even further down that path than ever. But it had started with Aurinkoth.

"Nope. Or the pies, or the cupcakes," she continued with a laugh. "But hey, at least I'm more than halfway there? Although that was probably the easy half."

All this time, for just one! Menankith echoed his brother's incredulity, constantly fascinated and no little surprised by this entire process. I suppose it is because humans are so much smaller? It would be difficult to fit much more, or else they would be very tiny. It is still a very long time, though, and Mine says it is even longer before they are truly grown. There will be many, many clutches before it can even Impress! Which it would, of course, and probably to a fine brown or blue or bronze. There couldn't possibly be anything less in store for the child of His and Macuith's and Viandarth's.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Have they checked to make sure?" again, Ichta was clearly joking with those words, but she couldn't help it! A baby! How could she not be a little in awe at the idea? "I hope the rest doesn't get harder. I always find the beginning of a task to be harder than finishing it, y'know? Maybe it'll be similar. Kind of like when the boys were little - we did a lot more scrubbing and oiling at the beginning, even if they were bigger in the end. We didn't have to feed them as much or clean up after them...."

She sat on the edge of her bed, attention drifting to the two dragons on the ledge with a small smile. "They were so little, it's hard to picture being able to carry either of them."

All that time for one! Was it because Nadry was so small? Oh, not that there was anything wrong with that but perhaps if humans came a little bigger, they'd make babies as quickly as a dragon did! All humans can have eggs though, so perhaps that evens out? If we had too many candidates all at once we would run out!

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Nadry chuckled at the joking query, and joined Ichta on the edge of the bed, setting the bag of snacks out of the way. "I mean, at least I'm not sick all the time anymore? So that's a plus. I don't even want to think about the finishing part, though," she groaned and laid back dramatically, only barely joking. Things had been weird and uncomfortable enough so far, that...ugh. The end was the scariest part. "And then it will actually be a baby, speaking of feeding and cleaning."

It was all getting more and more real, and sometimes it was an absolutely terrifying prospect. At any given moment, she could be elated or dreading it. "They were little, though, weren't they? I do miss when we could all just cuddle up together."

Perhaps, Menankith agreed after a moment of thought. It must be strange not to have clutchmates, though. Can you imagine? At least Fenrith's is having one too, so they won't be all alone. Do you think that Yours and Elzebuth's will ever have one?

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Oh, how she hoped Nadry didn't see the way her face paled when talking about the end of it all. How could she not be a little worried? As strong and healthy as Nadry was and how rarely anything bad happened......Ichta wanted it to end well. "Then you'll be starting all over again. It'll be like Menankith only drawn out for ten times as long," of course, there was the Creche to help, but....

"I don't see why we still can't," Ichta offered, laying back next to Nadry and stretching her arms up above her head. "It feels like a completely different life."

Aurinkoth's cheer didn't falter at the suggestion that the little one would be alone; There are lots of little ones in the Creche! They will have so many clutchmates! Though the question about if Ichta and G'ran would ever have a kid had him turning to look towards the young woman laid out on the bed. Hmmm. Ichtamine, do you want an egg?

Ichta immediately flinched.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"Except baby dragons are way cuter.  And they smell better." Nadry had been roped into helping with babies since she'd been old enough to be trusted to hold one, so childcare had mostly seemed like just another chore for most of her life...but then Orselie had died, and the prospect of children had suddenly become terrifying and very much unwanted.  After narrowly avoiding having to have children, she'd thought she never would.  And yet here she was, equal parts hopeful and ready to scream. "I'm sure this one will be much cuter than average, though, so maybe it won't be so bad."

"Curling up in bed with them at the end of the day was the best," she said with a wistful sigh, on the subject of cuddles.  That stage hadn't lasted long, but oh, it had been so wonderful - not that this wasn't wonderful, too, but she did miss being able to have Menankith right next to her all the time. "It might as well be a different life.  They changed everything."

Menankith considered Aurinkoth's assertion and hummed tentative approval. I suppose it will do, as long as the other little ones are good to it. His eyes flashed orange-red at the thought of anyone else's hatchling doing any wrong to theirs.  It was only speculation, though, so by the time he followed Aurinkoth's gaze, his own was back to green.

Looking from her friend's obvious flinch to the two curious dragon stares and back again, Nadry frowned. "What is it?"

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"It's gonna be part you - I think that will make this baby the cutest of any baby I've ever seen!" unlike Nadry, Ichta's experience with small children had been limited to the babies of other people. She had no siblings and her mother had...opinions about the whole process that had scarred Ichta deeply on the matter. "I mean, I guess their dads will help a little in that." Would it be an extra big baby for having two fathers?

Hoo boy.

Ichta looked up at Aurinkoth's expectant gaze with a frown, lifting an arm to point directly at him. "Someone is curious if I want a baby. I..." Ichta would never admit to the part of her that pictured her alcoholic mother and wondered if that was her future - who she could become. What kind of mother she would have been if the entire process didn't terrify her - or kill her first. "I don't see a baby anytime soon in my future."

Aurinkoth looked to Menankith. I guess not.

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

"I might have a little to do with it, if they're cute," she half-agreed, chuckling. "But if they look anything like C'lusi or R'shahar, Faranth help everyone!" A little heartbreaker in the making either way, for sure. She sat up a bit, enough to reach for the bag of snacks, and pulled out a cookie before holding the bag out to Ichta in offer. "I bet C'lusi was adorable when he was little. If they take after R'shahar..." Nadry made a noise and a little face, "Faranth help me." For while he would certainly also contribute an adorable factor, he was. Well. Quite large. So if he was the responsible party, that would be...a lot of baby.

"...Oh. I get that." The brownrider wriggled into a slightly more upright position and nibbled at the edge of her cookie for a moment. "I definitely didn't see it, either. If things were different...I don't know." She looked pensively down at her stomach. "It's all very strange." If they hadn't almost lost C'lusi, she might have made a different decision, but as real as it had made it that something could happen to any one of them...that had tipped her just over the edge.

Well, that is alright. She can always borrow ours sometimes if she wants! It would be very good for the hatchling, he was sure! And His and Macuith's and Viandarth's would definitely not mind, so he was very confident about making such an offer.

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