**The Hatchlings appearances are based on the statues by Windstone Editions. I'll put a gallery up on the page soon. Maybe....
This fic is in Lashana's POV, and it's in Journal entry style, which means that you really should pay attention to the dates of the chapters. Read, Enjoy and Review.
Words
between ::these:: mean telepathic thoughts. So does ~this~ Comprende? Bueno.
Read the fic.
03/12/02
The Hatching
There's something about being Bonded to someone that snores that just frays the nerves. It's true. I was lying in bed at 3 am, wide awake and Blackwargreymon was making sounds that resembled an elephant trying to pass an 18-wheeler. Needless to say, counting sheep wasn't even going to mildly help me. Plan A was me kicking him until he rolled over. I had done Plan A to death. Time for Plan B.
Grabbing my pillow, I fwaped him with it until I could secure a blanket, then stomped out of the room, heading for one of the free TV rooms in my wing of the Palace. Needless to say, me trying to navigate my way through a dark hallway at 3 in the morning is a sight to see. The only way I made it into the room was by rebounding off a wall I had just walked into. Owie....my nose....
I made my way towards something that resembled a couch, slammed my knee against a table, yelped, dropped my pillow and promptly tripped over the carpet, introducing my forehead to the corner of the coffee table. It took me two minutes to haul myself up onto the couch and curl the blanket around me, my knee and head pounding in time with my heartbeat.
Now that I had a mild concussion, I figured that sleep would come a lot faster. Or unconsciousness. Whichever won out first. Granted I had forgotten about one little detail : I didn't like to sleep alone. That whole business with the demon coming to attack me at night a few months back left me with wonderful nightmares.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, tensing when my imagination made the shadows in the corner of my eye move. Okay. That's it. Time to relocate. Heart pounding, I threw the blanket aside and ran out of the room, my mind firmly telling me that I was an idiot. My imagination overrode my mind with the image of another demon stalking me from the shadows, sending me into a half-awake panic.
It didn't help one bit that I tripped over Telca's cat, Mischief, along the way. Damned thing nearly gave me a frickin' heart attack.
Luckily, having Harem members that like you means that you can usually guilt them into letting you curl up next to them. I was counting on that as I stopped in front of a door and knocked softly. It took three more knocks before someone answered the door.
~ 'Shana? Wha are you doin' up?~ Mewtwo's thoughts echoed the half-awake look in his eyes as he leaned on the door's archway, blinking at me sleepily for a moment before he frowned. ~What's wrong?~
"Blacky's snoring and I can't sleep by myself cuz of the nightmares and it's cold and I smashed my knee and Telca's cat is driving me nuts and can I please stay with you?"
He blinked. Apparently being half-dead from lack of sleep makes me ramble and forget about punctuation. Oh well.
~Nightmares?~ Oh crap. I hadn't filled him in on that demon incident. I'd have to remember to do that when I'm coherent. I don't know what expression I had when he mentioned the nightmares, but apparently it was enough. ~Alright. But if Blacky kills me it's your fault.~
I glomped him. "Thanks."
He favored me with one of his rare chuckles and gently pried me off of himself before heading back to his bed. In actuality, he had made me buy him an oversized hammock when he first moved in. Something about the beds hurting his back. I personally didn't give a damn, if it made him happy, all the better. That meant that I was in his good graces and could get away with stealing his morning newspaper.
I watched as he rearranged the disgusting amount of blankets he had before he hopped up and lay back on the hammock, gesturing for me to join him.
~Hurry up or sleep on the floor.~ Okay, so he's about as nice as I am at 3 in the morning. I could live with that.
Shivering, I quickly climbed in next to him and sighed happily when he pulled the blankets over us. "Thanks 'Two."
He yawned in reply. ~Get some sleep.~
I was simply too tired to argue.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I ought to mention that there are times where 'Two acts like an overgrown cat. Which brings about the fact that cats, when they really really like someone, tend to snuggle. Thus I suppose that I shouldn't have been too surprised to find Mewtwo curled around me when I woke up the next morning. It was rather comfortable actually. Truthfully it was extremely comfortable. So comfortable that I stubbornly shoved aside the lure of coffee and snuggled closer to the living warmth beside me.
It wasn't until Mewtwo let out a soft sigh that I realized that I had never seen him so relaxed. On impulse, I reached up and scratched a spot behind his right horn thingy (I have no real idea what the heck it is), and grinned when he immediately started purring. "You're a big softy," I whispered to the sleeping Pokemon. "You're just too damned guarded for your own good."
I lowered my hand from his head when the fingers on my hand reminded me that I had slammed them against a wall the night before and frowned as I studied the bruises on the middle joints of my index and middle fingers, wondering how I had managed to do that to myself.
~Don't stop.~
I yelped and damn near fell out of the hammock. Only Mewtwo's quick reflexes managed to keep me from crashing to the floor. "Sweet hairy hell! Don't scare me like that!"
~Sorry,~ he chuckled as he pulled me back under the blankets, his tail curling around my left ankle again as he gazed at me curiously. ~So what was that about last night? Demons and nightmares?~
"It's a long and annoying story," I sighed, blinking when he rose a hand and held it just above my temple. I knew what he wanted to do, so I nodded and held still as he rested his fingers against my forehead, his eyes gaining the familiar blue glow that signified that he was using his psychic powers.
It always feels so strange to have someone other than yourself looking through your memories, and if I hadn't trusted Mewtwo as much as I did, I would have lashed out with everything I had. As it was, I tried very hard to keep myself calm, knowing that he wouldn't invade my private thoughts, and knowing that if he did, I'd have to beat the living daylights out of him.
He pulled away seconds later, and I blinked dazedly. ~I didn't know things ever got that serious around here.~
"Hang around long enough an we're bound to be attacked by someone else...or something else." I trailed off and shivered at the memory of the demon, closing my eyes as I savagely shoved the images aside.
~Do me a favor?~
"Maybe," I sighed, opening my eyes to look at him and frowning when he tilted his head towards me. I chuckled seconds later when I realized what he wanted, and obligingly rose my hand to dig my fingers into the short fur behind his right horn, smiling when he started to purr.
~That feels so nice... Though if you tell anyone I'll have to kill you.~
I grinned at that. "I'd be more afraid if you didn't sound like a giant cat at the moment."
He grumbled half-heartedly, then growled in protest when I pulled away. ~Hey- ~
"Something's wrong," I told him as I fought my way free of the blankets, yelping when my foot got caught in them. I crashed to the floor with a wail, yanked my foot free and fairly bolted from the room, dimly aware that Mewtwo was right behind me.
I burst into my bedroom, taking little notice of the evident lack of snoring Digimon, and made a beeline for the wildly rocking pot on my dresser. Said pot held the dragon egg that my Guys had given to me on Valentines Day, I had almost lost hope in it ever hatching. But as I yanked the cover off the clay pot, I discovered that it was indeed hatching, and that I had absolutely no idea what to do next.
My salvation came in the form of a certain psychic pokemon that ran into the room seconds later. "It's hatching! Mewtwo, it's hatching!" I thought panicking seemed to be in order at the moment. Hence the frantic screaming that followed. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!"
He ran over and took the pot from my hands, going over to the bed and gingerly dumping the egg out onto the blankets. ~Come here. The dragon is already attuned to you. If you're not nearby when it hatches it'll track you down or die trying.~
The image of any dragon dying made me rush over to him, joining him in staring down at the egg. "I haven't even thought of a name yet."
~You've got about three seconds to figure one out,~ he told me as a large crack appeared in the shell. He's about as helpful as a kick in the head sometimes.
As a large portion of the shell fell off, I busied myself with attaching myself to Mewtwo's left arm, my eyes widening when a tiny peacock-hued form tumbled out onto the blankets. "Ohmigods! He's soooo kute!"
Mewtwo chuckled, then tensed. ~And he has a sibling.~
"What?!" I snapped my gaze back to the egg, gaping when a metallic green scaled copy crawled out to join the first hatchling. "Sweet flamin' shit." I dropped to my knees next to the bed and slowly reached out, smiling when the two small draconic forms immediately rubbed their heads against my hand. "They're adorable..."
~Lashana!~
Startled, I snapped my gaze up to meet his, blinking for a moment before following his stare to the egg, where a small white form was struggling to emerge. Worried that it would hurt itself, I quickly scooped the little dragon into my cupped hands and relocated it to it's siblings, casting a wary look at the egg as I did so. "It's empty now.....right?"
Mewtwo poked at it, then leaned over me to look. ~Yes.~
"Good." I returned my gaze to the three dragon hatchlings in front of me and sighed. "What in the hells am I going to do with three dragons?"
I studied the triplets as my mind whirled with ideas of names. The first, which I suppose would be the oldest, seemed to be the larger of the three. His - I don't know how, but I automatically knew they were all male - scales a varied mix of royal metallic blue to a rich green. Small golden nubs that would become horns later on seemed to be just starting to emerge from his head, and his wings, while too small for him to use at the moment, were already spreading and folding. A three toed claw with gold talons closed over my right index finger as he tried to climb up onto my wrist, a small squeak escaping him when I automatically scooped him into my hands. His gaze fixed on me then, and I couldn't help but gasp at the intelligence in those expressive light blue eyes.
::.....Elfy?::
I damn near dropped him. "Mewtwo! It...he talked! In my head!" I paused as what he had said sunk into my stunned brain and looked down at the tiny dragon in my hands. "Hey! How the hell do you know that?! You're five minutes old!"
I swear he giggled.
As Mewtwo started giving me bizarre looks, the second dragon latched his talons into my arm and climbed up to join the first. I made a mental note to teach that one how to climb without drawing blood. The second was only slightly smaller than the first, his scales a rich blend of dark and light metallic greens that were accented by the gold on his talons and the fridge of his wings. He turned his bright red gaze to me, then turned to look at Mewtwo and scrunched his little face up in concentration.
::......hungry!::
Mewtwo gaped. ~Did it..... It's telepathic?!~
"I don't know. Seems like it's a real effort to talk to you. I can hear them just fine."
::Elfy!::
"Yes yes. We've covered that," I scowled at the first dragon, who grinned happily. A tiny whimper drew my attention to the third dragon, who was looking up at me with soulful golden eyes. I quickly shifted my hold on the two in my hands, cradling them in the crook of my left arm before reaching down with my free hand and letting the little white dragon climb into my palm.
This one was much smaller than the others, and had a kind of quiet frailty to him that started to make me worry....at least it did until he gave me a draconic grin and proceeded to pounce on the other two. I now had three fighting, squirming, clawing and biting dragons in my arms. "Owowowowow!! Stop that!"
I thought Mewtwo was going to pass out when the trio actually obeyed, all of them pausing and looking up at me curiously. "No fighting when I'm holding you. I value my skin," I told them, sending a pointed look at the claw marks on my bare arms. They weren't bleeding. But they did hurt.
~I don't believe this....~the pokemon said. ~That guy said nothing about triplets. And they're telepathic!~
"You said that already."
::Hungry!::
Mewtwo and I both yelped at the three unified voices, the pokemon forced to steady me when I scrambled to keep my balance. "Um....what do dragons eat?"
~You're asking me?~
This was going to be a long, looooong day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After I had helped Mewtwo clean the egg shell from the blankets - the three dragons had taken great pleasure in getting in the way - I gathered the hatchlings in my arms and headed downstairs with the intention of finding them something to eat. If only to shut them up.
::HUNGRY!!::
"Yes! I know!"
::HUNGRY!!::
"If you keep yelling I'm not going to feed you!!" Silence. Blessed, blessed silence. "That's better."
Mewtwo chuckled. ~Impatient little things, aren't they?~
"Extremely," I sighed.
~Twenty minutes old and already they're mirroring their owner.~
"'Two. If I wasn't holding them I'd hurt you."
~I know. Think of this as revenge for waking me up at 3 in the morning.~ He smirked at the glare I sent him and pushed open the swinging kitchen door. The wave of noise that blasted out of that room nearly sent me staggering backwards. The three dragons gave tiny squeaks of alarm and burrowed deeper into the safety of my arms.
I decided it was time to introduce the Harem to the new arrivals. "Mewtwo? Be a dear and introduce them to a low power Psyburn, will you?"
He grinned. ~I'd love to.~
Two seconds later, everything was quiet. Mostly because all the Guys in the Kitchen were clutching their heads in pain. Heh. Welcome to the wonderful world of Tylenol.
"Now you know how I feel when you lot give me headaches," I said as I strolled into the Kitchen and headed for the fridge.
"That was cruel," Duncan muttered, giving me a look that was somewhere between a wince and a glare. I thought he looked constipated.
~I thought it was rather entertaining,~ Mewtwo grinned as he joined me at the fridge, kindly pointing out the remains of last night's dinner. Mmmm. Fresh ham.
I grabbed the Tupperware bowl and slammed the door on a reaching tendril. I absolutely had to get around to beating the living daylights out of whatever was living in the back of the fridge. But not today. Shoving Zelgadis out of the way, I set the plate on the island counter and rose my gaze to the gathered Harem Guys. There weren't that many. Only six, excluding Mewtwo.
"Okay, y'all. Be nice and try not to act like yourselves," I announced as I gently set the trio on the counter, grinning at the shocked gazes all around. "I haven't thought of names for them yet, but they're all male."
"They're...... The egg hatched?" Zelgadis frowned, looking at me in surprise when I nodded. "But there weren't supposed to be three!"
"Mewtwo already went over that," I told him as I ripped the cover off the Tupperware bowl and proceeded to rip small pieces of ham off of the main hunk. "And, um, if any of you hear voices...don't freak."
"Voices?" I looked over at Blackwargreymon as he came to stand beside me. "They talk?"
~They're telepathic,~ Mewtwo explained for me since I had my hands full in trying to keep the trio from climbing into the bowl. ~Though it seems that they're more attuned to speaking with Lashana. I heard them, but that may be because I'm psychic.~
"You're kidding," Kang muttered, reaching out with a single talon to lightly poke at the white dragon. I smacked him.
"Be careful!!" I growled as the white one scrambled closer to me. "They're only half an hour old."
"They're kinda cute," Duncan mused as he carefully rubbed a finger over the green dragon's head, smiling when the hatchling closed his eyes and leaned into the caress.
"So are you as long as you don't open your mouth," Kang teased, laughing when the Immortal sputtered.
I couldn't help it. "Showing some unknown love for the Immortal, Kang?" I turned to hand feed the little white dragon as he glared at me, only barely managing to hide a smug smirk as I focused my attention on the smallest of the litter.
"It's a runt," Zelgadis grumbled as he watched me hand it small pieces of ham. The other two were doing just fine on their own. Mewtwo was feeding the blue one, and Nightcrawler was doing the same for the green one.
"So?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at the chimera. "What of it?"
"You do know that it'll probably die."
I felt my temper rise. "He will do no such thing!" I grabbed the nearest thing I could reach and slammed it down on Zel's head, growling as the chimera slumped to the floor, out cold. I rose my gaze to the audience and lifted the rolling pin threateningly. "Anyone else wanna say something?!"
There were unanimous mutterings of 'no'. I was surprised to see Mewtwo glaring down at the unconscious Zelgadis, I hadn't been aware that the Pokemon could be so protective.
~You're growing on me.~
I smiled and glanced at him, seeing him smirk before his attention was diverted to the dragon that was trying to leap out of his arms to get to the Tupperware container. "I have got to think of names for them."
"Don't suppose you'd consider calling one of them 'Kang'?"
I looked over at the draconian and smiled. "One of you is enough."
Blackwargreymon chuckled and lightly nudged me in the ribs. "Good morning by the way. Where'd you go?"
"You snore. Loudly," I stated, seeing him wince. "I couldn't get you to shut up so I left."
"That's more than what I could do."
I blinked and looked over at the sour tone, smiling at Telca cheerfully. "Good morning!" The look she gave me could have melted glass. So she wasn't a morning person. Neither was I. "Your cat's being a pain in the arse again."
"I taught her well then," Telca smirked.
I grinned an evil grin. "I hope I'm as good a teacher as you then," I said as I gestured to the two dragons that Mewtwo and Nightcrawler were holding.
"So! It looks like that egg wasn't a dud after all. Malcho will be relieved."
I blinked and looked at her. "What? Why?"
"Well I know how much you wanted a pet and that egg wasn't hatching... So I told him that if that egg didn't hatch soon that he would be providing you with a hatchable egg one way or another...whether he liked it or not," Telca explained, grinning at my shocked expression.
"No wonder he hasn't been around lately," Kang muttered under his breath.
Telca casually reached out and fwaped my draconian, switching subjects before I could say anything "Hey, I thought there was only supposed to be one dragon! What is this, a two-for-one?"
"Actually...it's more like a three for one," Duncan snickered as I scooped the little white dragon into my arms.
"Aren't they adorable?" I smiled, glancing down when a plaintive mewl caught my attention. I couldn't help but stare as Mischief lept up into Telca's arms, then reached out a paw to bat at the dragon in my arms. Acting on instinct, I threw myself backwards into Blackwargreymon's arms, hearing a startled squeak from the hatchling in my arms as the clawed paw just barely missed it's snout.
"I think you'd better keep the hatchlings away from Telca's cat until they've grown a little, Lashana-dono," the previously silent Kenshin said. I'm surprised Duncan didn't say it first. He's usually the one to state the obvious.
I answered with my usual charm. "Well, duh." I hadn't noticed that Telca was staring at the hatchling in my arms until she chuckled and elbowed Nightcrawler to get his attention. "What?"
She pointed to the little one in my arms and grinned. "Look you can see the family resemblance. He matches your hair, he's got an attitude and he's a runt just like his mommy."
"I am not a runt!" I snapped as Blackwargreymon growled lowly. He usually gets upset enough for the both of us, but this involved one of my dragons. It was personal now. Unfortunately, before I could comment on her lovely upbringing of the demon cat, Mewtwo grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the other sorceress.
~You're forgetting that the dragons are tuned to you,~ he murmured in my thoughts, drawing me out of my insulted rage as he held out a hissing blue dragon. I was slightly startled to see it glaring at Telca as it bared it's tiny fangs.
"Whoops. I guess I forgot," I sighed, moving to let Mewtwo set the upset hatchling into my arms to join the white one. "Where's the third?"
~Trying to bite Telca.~
"I think he's my favorite," Blackwargreymon teased as Nightcrawler bamfed over to me and returned the third hatchling. It was so cute when the little green one sneezed. Hell, I wasn't even aware dragons could sneeze. I just hoped they wouldn't start to breath fire as they grew. Fire breathing dragons that could sneeze could present interesting problems.
Ignoring the glares being sent back and forth by my Bonded and Telca, I walked over to the island counter and grabbed the Tupperware bowl, carefully cradling the three hatchlings in the crook of my left arm. "I'm headin' for the library."
"What for?" Telca asked. "You haven't even had your customary three cups of coffee yet."
"I figured that some of the books up there might give me ideas on what to name them."
"Greeny, Bluey, and...." Duncan trailed off at the glare of death I sent him. Smart man. Just because he's Immortal doesn't mean that various parts of him will grow back if I cut them off.
Of course, I had momentarily forgotten about Telca. "Let's just call the third one Runt and be done with it."
I will not kill. I will not kill. I will not kill. With that mantra in my head, I shoved my way past Telca and headed for the main stairs, the hatchlings strangely silent in my arms. I glanced down at them and blinked at the three gazes that locked onto mine. "What?"
::Enemy?::
"Er..." Thoughts of siccing my dragons on her when they were full grown flitted through my mind, but the fear of what she'd do to them if she caught them murdered that plan before it had even begun. "....no. That was Telca. She's....a friend." I've never had a dragon look at me as if I've just grown a second head before. "Well she is."
I was halfway up the Main Stairs when a blue light surrounded me, a familiar psychic presence touching my thoughts as we were teleported into the Library. "Thanks."
~I figured it was a good idea to get you and the hatchlings somewhere safe.~ At my curious look, he sighed. ~Telca set Mischief loose.~
Oh joy. The demon cat that had stolen the egg and used it as a plaything two weeks ago was loose. Greaaat. "Double thanks then," I said as I went and closed the Library doors before walking over to the couch and set the dragons down on a pillow, dropping a handful of Ham pieces into their midst as I did so. "Stay."
::Elfy!::
I rolled my eyes at the flashes of bright happy colours that accompanied the mental call and headed for the fiction bookcases. "So what brought about this sudden change in attitude, 'Two? Usually you can barely stand to be touched, hate it when I ask you to teleport me somewhere...."
There was a sound that could have been an embarrassed cough. ~I....uh....~
A quick glance over at him awarded me with the first good look I had gotten of him when he had his complete guard down. The sight tugged at my conscience. "Hey.... you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I didn't mean it like--"
~No. No, it's alright.~ I watched him as he walked over to me and reached out to pick a random book off the shelf. ~I suppose that I never really knew if you truly wanted me here or not. If you were just putting up with me just so that I would teach you how to use your psychic abilities....~ He trailed off and looked at me, backing away moments later at the angry glare I was giving him. ~Wait. Let me finish!~ I lowered the book I was about to beat him with and arched an eyebrow. ~I just didn't know. After all the times I've been betrayed... I just didn't want it to happen again....~
I didn't say anything. Actually, I was still debating whether or not to smack him with the book.
Mewtwo glanced at me and apparently decided to get to the point. ~I just.... Thank you. For last night.~
Then I blinked. "What? What for? For waking you up at 3 in the morning?" Then it dawned. That was exactly what he was doing. "You didn't think that I trusted you that much, hmm? Y'know I've still got half a mind to smack you with this." I waved the book at him threateningly. "After all the times I let you rummage around in my head I'd have thought you'd knew me better."
I let him squirm a bit before lowering the book and shaking my head in disbelief. "You will never cease to amaze me, y'know that O Thickheaded One?" He smirked at the title, obviously more comfortable on familiar ground.
~As if you're one to talk.~ Yep. He was better. Good. I had enough on my hands without having to worry about a depressed Harem Member. Oh Lords...depressed Harem member... Malcho!
I was halfway to the door before an inquisitive squeak reminded me of my new charges. "'Two! Can you watch the hatchlings for five minutes? I gotta go tell Malcho that Telca's not going to make him lay anything."
He nodded, and I grinned at him before breaking out into a full run, heading for my Wing of the Palace in the hopes that Malcho was still in his room. Actually there wasn't much of a chance that he wasn't. He had locked himself in there two days ago, and had refused to come out no matter what I said. At least now I knew why.
I skidded around a corner, yelped at the carpet burn I now had on the soles of my bare feet, and half-ran, half-limped over to a door, cursing softly under my breath as I leaned on the wall and proceeded to pound on the door hard enough that I could feel the vibrations through the wall.
"Malcho!! Yo, c'mon! Let me in!" No answer. "Either let me in or I'll Dragon Slave the door!" Aha! Instant response! I shoved the door open a little wider and walked in, closing it behind me before looking around me. It always amazed me how peaceful Malcho's room was, granted with all the plants he had in there, it was like a forest, and I loved forests. "Malcho? Hun, you're being a moron, where the hell are you?" You'd think it would be easy to spot a 50 foot long purple quetzacoatl in a room full of green.
"Amiga, there is nothing you can say that will make me leave this room." I turned at the rumble and looked up into the eyes of my third favorite Harem member.
"If you're talking about Telca's little....plan. It's not gonna happen. Honestly, did you really think I'd let her hurt you?"
"Actually I thought that you wouldn't be able to stop her." Make that fourth favorite Harem member.
I grumbled out something inappropriate and headed for the door. "Fine. If you don't want to come see the hatchlings that's your decision," I growled, slamming the door behind me, smothering a snicker as I walked down the hallway a bit before stopping and leaning against the wall. Three....two....one.....
The door was nearly ripped off it hinges as Malcho yanked it open and slithered out into the hallway. "Lashana! Wai--" He paused when he saw me grinning at him and rolled his eyes. "I should have known."
"So! You quite finished acting like a-"
"Don't say it," he groaned, raising a wing in a silent bid for me to shut up. I blinked. "When did it hatch?"
"Oh, 'bout an hour ago. Mewtwo's looking after them right now," I answered as I headed back to the Library, waiting for my wording to sink in. I got halfway to my destination before Malcho caught up to me.
"'Them'? Amiga, did you say them?!"
I grinned and waved three fingers in front of his nose. "Yeppers. Now all I have to do is figure out what to name them..." The Library doors were closed when we got there, so I shrugged and opened a portal, stepping out into my favorite room in the Palace and inadvertently startling Mewtwo. "Whoops. Sorry." I stepped aside and let Malcho come through, waiting until he had coiled his entire length into the room before closing the portal.
Excited hisses and squeaks punctuated my return. ::Elfy!::
"Yes, I came back," I sighed as I leaned over the back of the couch and looked at the three pairs of eyes that were staring up at me, dimly aware that Malcho has craned his neck to look over my shoulder. The green and the blue seemed to love the ham I had left for them, but the white one, he was just sitting to the side... "What's with him?"
~He won't eat,~ Mewtwo told me, meeting my panicked gaze when I jerked my head up to look at him. Truth be told, Zelgadis' earlier remark had hit close to lots of my own worries. ~He absolutely refuses to eat any more of the ham.~
Crap. I was running out of ideas. What the hell did dragons eat anyway? Meat sure, but we hadn't done a grocery lately, and I was certain the hatchling wouldn't want the three meat pizza leftovers in the fridge.
"Hey! I was wondering where you had disappeared to," Kang greeted us as he shoved the doors open and strolled in, a half-eaten sandwich in his right hand. "Is everything alright?"
I was about to answer when movement on the couch drew my attention, and I stared as the little white dragon sniffed at the air before chirping excitedly. ::Hungry!:: Impatient yellow and orange tones accompanied the cry and I blinked as I followed it's gaze to a baffled Kang.
"What?"
"What kind of sandwich is that?" I demanded as I lept over the couch and snatched it from him, lifting the top layer of bread to discover that Kang had seemingly found a can of salmon in the almost bare cupboards. "This is perfect!"
"That's my lunch!" the Draconian protested as I headed back to the couch, sandwich in hand. "Hey give that ba--" He cut himself off in mid rant as I tossed the top layer of bread into a garbage can then knelt in front of the couch and scooped a bit of the fish onto the tip of my right index finger.
"Is this what you want?" I murmured to the white hatchling, smiling in pure relief when tones of green and blue flashed across my minds eye accompanied by the happy chirp of the dragon that had just eaten the fish offered and gone for the rest of the sandwich. "These things should come with instruction labels."
~Aw. But then we'd miss the wonders of seeing your maternal instincts in action.~
"Don't make me hurt you," I growled, glaring at the pokemon over my shoulder. "I do not have maternal instincts."
"Uh huh," Kang grinned. "Suuuure you don't."
I grumbled and turned my attention back to the dragons. What was I going to call them? Think brain. Think, think, think....oh my Gods I sound like Winnie the pooh. This is what happens when I don't have my morning coffee.... I blinked and glanced back at where Mewtwo, Kang and Malcho were standing, half-listening as Mewtwo explained about the telepathic link the dragons had with me while I stared at the hatchlings in question.... "I've got it!!"
The three Guys yelped at my cry and stared at me as I ran for a bookshelf. "You've got what? A psychotic episode?"
"Shut up Kang!" I grumbled, lobbing a book at him before returning my attention to the book titles in front of me. "Aha! There they are!" I grabbed my three favorite fantasy books and carried them back to the couch.
Mewtwo watched me with a level of worry that suggested that I looked positively insane. ~What's wrong?~
"Nothing! I just figured out their names," I beamed as I opened the first book (Mercedes Lackey! Yay!) and shifted through a few pages. "There it is." I reached out and gently pulled a loose feather from Malcho's right wing, ignoring the glare he sent me as I waved the feather around a bit then tapped the blue dragon on it's snout with it. "I dub thee Kalamadea!"
Thus said, I tossed the book over my shoulder, managing to hit Kang with it in the process before grabbing the second book and pulling a sheet of old paper out of it.
"What's that?" Malcho asked, peering at the paper curiously.
"An old idea from a story I started writing a few years ago," I answered as I tapped the feather on the green hatchling's head. "You're Korin. No....no don't eat the feather... oy..."
"You keep him away from me, amiga," Malcho grumbled when the feather came back mangled.
"Wuss," Kang chuckled, yelping when I beaned him with the second book.
~Serves you right,~ Mewtwo told Kang as I picked up the last book and started looking through it.
I grinned as I found what I was looking for and looked down at the little white dragon. "Khordeshkhistriakhor."
There was a silence that followed where a gnat could have sneezed and it would have sounded like a gunshot.
~"What?!"~
The unified cry from the three males made me look back at them in amusement. "Akhor for short."
Kang blinked. "Where the hell did you come up with that?!"
"One of my favorite authors of course!" I chided him before crouching down to be at eye level with the three hatchlings. "You like?" I got a unified rainbow of cheerful colours that made my head spin. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."
"They look stuffed," Malcho commented as Kalamadea and Korin curled up together, their gazes still fixed on me as they settled themselves down.
I nodded in agreement, suddenly wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with them now, at least that's what I was doing until a light nudge on my right hand caught my attention. I looked down at the cutest little pout I ever did see and smiled as I scooped Akhor into my arms.
I was dimly aware of Mewtwo smirking as Akhor climbed up my t-shirt until he reached my shoulder, but by then I was too busy worrying that he was going to fall to notice much of anything else. ~Relax. He's fine.~
"Says you," I grumbled as I felt Akhor curl up, his talons firmly embedded into the cotton on my shirt while his tiny tail was wound around a lock of my hair.
"I'll be damned. He's practically invisible now," Kang chuckled. I would have smacked him had Kalamadea and Korin not started crying out for my attention.
I now had a dragon sleeping on my right shoulder and two firmly nestled in my arms. To put it mildly, I was stuck. "Now what am I supposed to do?"
~Come have breakfast for one thing. Er...I think I mean lunch,~ Mewtwo said, glancing at the clock that was on the wall. ~Lunch. I mean lunch.~
I followed
his gaze and groaned when I saw that it was almost noon. "I want my coffee."
Next Entry, coming soon!!
