Post by Azhdarchid on Jul 10, 2011 18:42:22 GMT -5
Unath raised her head from edge of the dragon couch, faceted eyes slipping open and glimmering blue in the darkness. Outside it was noon, and it was cold. Late Autumn, with Winter already dripping in on malicious ocean-born breezes. Her own ample body heat did not make much of a dent on the chill, unable to slip past her thick, dappled dragon-hide. Unath never had occasion to wear clothes, but even when Q'sis was only sleeping at this time of Turn he had to dress in layers and steep himself in bedfurs. His tiny bedroom attached to hers had a slightly more stagnant atmosphere, but the same spicy dragon scent. And the same inherited cold.
The Tan no longer had to climb off her couch to get her nose in the door of that room. Q'sis was sleeping now. The afternoon would see no chores or lessons foisted on him except what was necessary for his dragon's sake, so he napped. Usually when he slept, Unath saw fit to sleep too. But then some days were like today. She woke up. She felt fit, full of energy. She sought Q'sis, leaning off the end of the dragon couch to get her whole head through the doorway. Unath's nostrils flared in a slow breathing rhythm a few inches from the fur-lined fringe of the bed. The light of her eyes glowed across the stone walls and the bedframe, but Q'sis had buried himself out of sight.
He was not just napping, but deeply asleep. Dreaming about something Unath did not understand. There were piercing blue skies, and mountains that plunged up from white earth like wherry hooks. Q'sis had gone to bed to get warm, but it looked cold in his dreams too. He had never dreamed, never slept so thoroughly before Autumn, but his dragon preferred his present willingness to do so. It seemed peaceful.
Unath wondered what the sky was doing in the Bowl. She started to retract her head to go have a look, but one of her headknobs caught on the doorframe. The Tan pulled back at the same angle several more times, bumping the frame each time, then rumbled as she tried twisting her head from side to side to get free. She managed to liberate her left knob and hook the right. Grunting, she started the process all over again, barely noticing how Q'sis' dreams melted away to nothing.
She was about to tear the frame off when two weathered hands, dark from the previous Summer and dry from the present cold, settled over her snout to keep her from moving. Unath's piteous hatchling squeal had descended a few octaves since she uttered it last, but even as she complained Q'sis' hand was tracing her head up to the lodged part. He stood alongside her right eye and seized the top of the knob, then pulled her just a little forward before releasing her safely to freedom in the center of the doorway.
The dragon considered him: swaying on his feet, eyes mostly-lidded, she was not sure he even counted as awake. But he was not so asleep that he was dreaming, either, so she laid her nose against him and nudged him down into a seat on the bed. His eyes opened a little more for the courtesy, watching Unath retract her head a second time, but she did not get caught. He nodded at her, then turned over and fell on his bearded face, fast asleep again. He did not even pull the furs over his back. Unath wondered at that, but soon turned away so she could find something to do.
She left the barrack on her own, some twenty-four feet of dragonet plus her tail hobbling out into the bleakly lit Autumn bowl. The sky was not like Q'sis' dream at all: blackish-bellied clouds piled on each other to block out the sun, and her tan hide lost its rich brown saturation in the pale light. Rain sprinkled on her from time to time, slipping off her freshly oiled hide. Unath located a few shallow puddles of rainwater in the Bowl and stamped her feet in them to send the individual drops exploding outward. She rattled her wings, then opened them out to her sides and hopped in place, twisting in the air so that each time she landed she faced a new direction.
Unath satisfied herself with her whirling action for a few spins, then slipped up on her landing and banged her entire bodyweight down on her keel. She clambered up quickly and sidestepped away from the spot, facets whirling. Once she was far enough away from the site of her mistake she straightened out her back and began strutting along beside the lake, negotiating her limbs into the most defiant hop-step she could manage. But oh! Someone was moving toward her! Or vaguely in her direction!
The Tan froze with her feet splayed out for a few seconds, neck arching her head to its highest survey point. Then, with a roar of greeting, she charged at her visitor.
[ OOC: Q'sis will show up as needed. Unath will not trample anybody but she will derp right up to them. :P ]
The Tan no longer had to climb off her couch to get her nose in the door of that room. Q'sis was sleeping now. The afternoon would see no chores or lessons foisted on him except what was necessary for his dragon's sake, so he napped. Usually when he slept, Unath saw fit to sleep too. But then some days were like today. She woke up. She felt fit, full of energy. She sought Q'sis, leaning off the end of the dragon couch to get her whole head through the doorway. Unath's nostrils flared in a slow breathing rhythm a few inches from the fur-lined fringe of the bed. The light of her eyes glowed across the stone walls and the bedframe, but Q'sis had buried himself out of sight.
He was not just napping, but deeply asleep. Dreaming about something Unath did not understand. There were piercing blue skies, and mountains that plunged up from white earth like wherry hooks. Q'sis had gone to bed to get warm, but it looked cold in his dreams too. He had never dreamed, never slept so thoroughly before Autumn, but his dragon preferred his present willingness to do so. It seemed peaceful.
Unath wondered what the sky was doing in the Bowl. She started to retract her head to go have a look, but one of her headknobs caught on the doorframe. The Tan pulled back at the same angle several more times, bumping the frame each time, then rumbled as she tried twisting her head from side to side to get free. She managed to liberate her left knob and hook the right. Grunting, she started the process all over again, barely noticing how Q'sis' dreams melted away to nothing.
She was about to tear the frame off when two weathered hands, dark from the previous Summer and dry from the present cold, settled over her snout to keep her from moving. Unath's piteous hatchling squeal had descended a few octaves since she uttered it last, but even as she complained Q'sis' hand was tracing her head up to the lodged part. He stood alongside her right eye and seized the top of the knob, then pulled her just a little forward before releasing her safely to freedom in the center of the doorway.
The dragon considered him: swaying on his feet, eyes mostly-lidded, she was not sure he even counted as awake. But he was not so asleep that he was dreaming, either, so she laid her nose against him and nudged him down into a seat on the bed. His eyes opened a little more for the courtesy, watching Unath retract her head a second time, but she did not get caught. He nodded at her, then turned over and fell on his bearded face, fast asleep again. He did not even pull the furs over his back. Unath wondered at that, but soon turned away so she could find something to do.
She left the barrack on her own, some twenty-four feet of dragonet plus her tail hobbling out into the bleakly lit Autumn bowl. The sky was not like Q'sis' dream at all: blackish-bellied clouds piled on each other to block out the sun, and her tan hide lost its rich brown saturation in the pale light. Rain sprinkled on her from time to time, slipping off her freshly oiled hide. Unath located a few shallow puddles of rainwater in the Bowl and stamped her feet in them to send the individual drops exploding outward. She rattled her wings, then opened them out to her sides and hopped in place, twisting in the air so that each time she landed she faced a new direction.
Unath satisfied herself with her whirling action for a few spins, then slipped up on her landing and banged her entire bodyweight down on her keel. She clambered up quickly and sidestepped away from the spot, facets whirling. Once she was far enough away from the site of her mistake she straightened out her back and began strutting along beside the lake, negotiating her limbs into the most defiant hop-step she could manage. But oh! Someone was moving toward her! Or vaguely in her direction!
The Tan froze with her feet splayed out for a few seconds, neck arching her head to its highest survey point. Then, with a roar of greeting, she charged at her visitor.
[ OOC: Q'sis will show up as needed. Unath will not trample anybody but she will derp right up to them. :P ]
