Duet, Duel, Dessert, Date, Dragons
#67 of The Life and Times of Jarzyl Mintaka (Slice of Life Stories)
Two dragon fledglings enjoy several moments shared together
More Jarzyl, more Atlas, and another slice-of-life story in the City of Wings. Not sure I like that title, but it'll suffice. (6,435 words)
With a flutter of his wings, Atlas landed on the balcony. The dragon fledgling took a moment to catch his breath, then he furled up his wings and glanced into the house. "Hello?"
"Who is it? Come on in. The doors are unlocked," came a shout from inside.
Atlas pushed the balcony doors open and stepped into the living room. As it usually was, this house was clean yet a little busy--it wasn't properly messy, but there were things left lying about--it was clearly lived in. Stacks of paperwork stood atop and beside a dining table, while small stone sculptures were lined up on shelves on one wall.
A pair of couches were placed at opposite sides of the living room, but they were empty other than cushions. Instead, an adult drake with scales of golden yellow was sitting on a large floor mat. Galon Mintaka was lying on his front, reading from a stack of documents that all had the Mintaka clan insignia stamped on one corner. He smiled warmly at Atlas as the younger, slightly smaller drake stepped into the living room. "Ah, Atlas. It's you."
Atlas dipped his head in a polite bow. "Good afternoon, drak."
Galon obviously knew why Atlas was here. "Good afternoon! Jarzyl's in her room." The yellow-scaled drake dipped his head, quickly returned the bow, though he didn't stand up. The reason he remained sitting down on his front was clear--Galon has one wing unfurled and mantled down over his side, covering something pressed against his body--it was a nesting posture.
Atlas nodded understandingly. "Uh, congratulations, drak."
Galon's warm smiled widened, and his neck frill perked up. "Thank you! It's a most exciting time for us with the family expanding. Not that the egg will be hatching for many months more, but I'm counting down each day."
"How exciting. I'm sure Jarzyl must be thrilled too." Atlas glanced curiously towards the side of the living room, where there was a nesting box. This device which resembled a rectangular glass tank, on wheels, with a padded spot right in the middle for an egg to be placed, as well as heat lamps at the top to provide proper temperature. "Is the nesting box broken?" Atlas inquired.
Galon shook his head. "When I'm at home and I have free time, I enjoy nesting the traditional way. Zilarin trusts the nesting boxes--they use them aplenty in the medical centre, and are supposed to be very reliable--but for me, no machine beats the proper comforting warmth of dragon's wing. A box can provide heat and humidity, but it doesn't provide love."
"I see." Atlas thought a little about this.
For many parents in the City of Wings, the frequent practice was to rent a nesting box either in a medical centre or in their clan's nesting facilities. To own a personal nesting box was considerably more expensive, though it had the advantage of allowing an egg to be incubated at home. To own a personal nesting box yet still choose to manually nest an egg was even more expensive, if you counted the time when a parent had to sit still and keep their egg warm. Then again, Galon appeared to be reading through clan paperwork, so evidently he was multitasking--nesting his future child, while also doing his architectural work for the clan.
Galon looked amused by Atlas's engrossed stare. "Do you want to see it?" He raised his wing up, revealing a large white ovoid against his side, resting softly on the floor mat. Galon sniffed at the egg, then he gently nuzzled it with his snout, gently rotating it as you were supposed to do when taking care of an egg. "Mmm, hmmm. Isn't it so nice?" he muttered proudly.
"It is very nice," Atlas agreed. As far as eggs went, this was rather large egg, and it was pleasantly round with a few speckles of brown colour on a pale white shell.
Looking at Galon and the egg also made Atlas feel an odd sense of perspective. One day in the far future, would he be in a similar position? Atlas wasn't from an apex clan like Mintaka but was instead just clanless. He lived in a sheltered home from clanless young dragons, and they all had to do errands, one of which was to take care of abandoned eggs which had been given up to the shelter. As such, he was familiar with the concept of nesting, and had personally spent many long hours with his wing keeping a set of eggs warm. But those eggs weren't ever related to him by blood or by clan--would it feel different if he were nesting an egg that was his? That _he_had made?
Atlas's tail twitched. Mentally, economically, and in most every other sense he wasn't at all ready for that sort of responsibility, but biologically it was possible. He was a fledgling, able to fly, close to adult-sized, and right on that murky border between adolescence and adulthood. Given his age, his body probably already had the ability to make an egg--well, not on his own, but he could do the half that a drake needed to do. The other half required a drakka.
Atlas cut off that line of thought before it went anywhere. "Uh, best of luck with the egg and with the hatching."
"Indeed, yes." Galon finished rotating the egg, and then he lowed his wing back down over it to keep it warm again. With his forelimbs, he picked up his paperwork again to continued reading. "Is anyone else coming over today? Jarzyl was vague about how many of her friends would turn up."
"Caden, Nerlin, and Pyxis should be coming later," Atlas replied.
"That's nice." Galon nodded towards the corridor, in the direction of the kitchen and Jarzyl's bedroom. "As always, feel free to grab a drink or a snack if you want. I would help you get something, but I have this egg to take care off. Jarzyl's in her bedroom--she was supposed to be doing homework, but I suspect she ended up taking a nap."
Atlas bowed his head again. "Thanks, drak!" Then he went to go find his friend.
As expected, Jarzyl was taking a nap in her bedroom. She was lying sprawled out on her back, with her left wing extending over the edge of the bed with the upper flight surface brushing against the floor, and her right wing pressed up against the nearby wall so that it was pointing almost straight upwards. It didn't look like a very comfortable position, but the amber-coloured dragon fledgling was still fast asleep.
Atlas stopped in the corridor, waiting at the open bedroom door. "Jarzyl."
"Mhhm--tlas..." Jarzyl mumbled something and her whole body twitched. Her right wing folded downwards to drop over her head and most of her body, covering her like a blanket.
"Jarz," Atlas repeated, to no response. He was unable to discern whether Jarzyl was deep asleep, or just lazily ignoring him. "Jarzyl, Jarz. Are you ignoring me? I'm going to come in." He thumped his tail against the ground, then against the open bedroom door, then finally he strolled into her bedroom--her room was so much bigger than his space in the clanless shelter, given that she was from an apex clan. There was a balcony entrance with the doors wide open, and the curtains swayed from a gentle afternoon breeze. Atlas went to the balcony to take a look at the view.
Jarzyl's family lived at the edge of a city sector. Outside in the short distance there was open space, while at a much longer distance away was the neighbouring city sector lined with gleaming skyscrapers like a wall of metal, glass, and polished stone. The sky was clear today, filled not with clouds, but instead with dragons flapping their way through the airspace, along with the occasional airship powering its way around the city. Glancing over the edge of the balcony, Atlas felt a slight strain as his eyes adjusted to look all the way to extreme distance, at the wide, scenic plains over which the City of Wings was flying high. It was a pretty sight.
Turning back to the bedroom, Atlas's gaze turned back to his friend. Jarzyl had a lean appearance with her wings looking oversized compared to the rest of her body, as was the case for many fledglings, but her scales were bright and her tail was slender and long. Unfortunately her wing covered her best feature--her face, with the way she smiled and laughed, it felt like she could light up a room.
Atlas realized he was staring. He allowed the indulgence for a moment more, then he forced his gaze away. He'd just spoken with Jarzyl in school only a few hours ago. "Jarzyl. Care to wake up?"
Still no response. Atlas continued looking around the bedroom. Beside the balcony was a fancy looking telescope, mounted on a tripod but with its ends covered by rubber caps so it didn't catch the sun and start a fire. At another side of the room there was a light field projector which resembled a pit in the ground filled with sand which could change colour and form into objects, but the sand was dark and unmoving, currently not displaying anything. One wall was covered in chalk drawings--scribblings, notes, dates, even some sketches.
There was much personality in the room. There was a bookshelf filled with novels, encyclopaedias, and magazines, and half of one shelf instead featured a huge chunk of spiky needlemir crystal--a souvenir from a school trip to the floating mountains. At another side of the room was a storage chest, with the lids unable to fully close because it was stuffed full of old toys, harness pouches, notes and textbooks from previous semesters, and all other sorts of things. A radio set with a long, coiled up antenna wire was just under Jarzyl's bed.
There was also a large writing desk at another side of the room, with a floor cushion for a dragon (or two) to sit on. Atlas went to the desk and spotted an assignment sheet from school. Apparently Jarzyl had_completed her homework before taking a nap. Her writing was messy, but she'd completed her history essay already--_Main Causes of the Third Clan Wars. "Hmm. Well done."
Strolling over to the bed, Atlas tapped Jarzyl's tail tip. "Hello. Hey."
Jarzyl flinched, jerking her tail away from his touch and pulling back her hindlegs to kick. That made Atlas hurriedly hop back, but instead of kicking out, Jarzyl flipped her wing off herself and raised her head, before blinking sleepily at Atlas. Recognizing him, she slowly relaxed, like a taut spring gradually loosening. "Eh?"
"Good afternoon. Had a good nap?"
Jarzyl made a half-hearted flick of her neck frill. She spread out her wings and all four legs in a long stretch, arching her back and stretching her muscles, before slumping back down onto the bed. Then she sniffed and rubbed her nose, staring at Atlas. "It's you."
Atlas chuckled. "Happy to see me?"
Jarzyl flicked a single claw. "Come here..." she demanded.
Atlas strolled a little closer, moving to the head of the bed. Still lying down, Jarzyl stared up at him with an expectant look. She tilted her head, and her neck frill perked up partially.
Atlas held back another laugh. Bending down, he fondly bumped his snout against the top of Jarzyl's head, then gently licked her scales there. Jarzyl made a soft, rumbly, affectionate noise like a purr--which sharply cut off when Atlas pulled away. "Hmmrrrrr...?!" Her neck frill drooped flat against her neck. "Is that all I get?"
Atlas was grinning. "What more do you want?"
Jarzyl stuck her tongue out playfully, then she reached up and grabbed one of Atlas's horns, using that leverage to pull his head right towards hers. Atlas didn't resist, and he shifted forward, letting their mouths touch in a kiss. Jarzyl moved her other paw so that she was grabbing both of Atlas's horns, holding him close. "Yes, that's good, Atlas..." she murmured softly, and then they kept kissing.
Atlas licked at her snout and he felt his tongue brush against Jarzyl's, making his eyes go half lidded as a warm, elated sensation filled his body. Jarzyl was the most energetic, cheerful, brightly curious person he knew--she was a joy to be around, and that he was able to make her happy made Atlas feel alive like nothing else could.
Jarzyl sighed softly as her breath mingled with his, and she even grabbed his shoulder to pull him closer to her--however, suddenly she made a panicked noise and hurriedly jerked back from their embrace, pushing him away. "Oh! Wait, no, no. Don't. We can't. My father is home."
Atlas licked his snout, then he glanced towards the corridor. Jarzyl hadn't told her parents about... whatever it was that she and Atlas were doing. They hadn't told anyone, not even their closest friends or schoolmates. They hadn't even told each other what they were doing, or what this meant. "Would he... disapprove?"
Jarzyl blinked. "I don't know. But we're just supposed to be doing schoolwork."
Atlas considered this. "You know, I don't know your parents like you do, obviously, but they don't seem like Caden's folks, who always want her to be studying nonstop. My impression is that your parents have always encouraged to study, but also to be happy, make friends, and play, yes?"
Jarzyl tapped Atlas's chest. "That's different. This is a... different sort of play. And there would be weird questions and things would be embarrassing. We shouldn't do... that. So uh... yeah." She glanced away, not making eye contact with him for a moment, before glancing right back. "Maybe just one more, though." In a quick move, Jarzyl pecked her mouth against his, stealing another quick kiss, with a hungry urgency like a thirsty person trying to gulp down water. Atlas savoured the moment, brief as it was.
Then it was over. Flailing her limbs, Jarzyl rolled off her bed and went to sit at her desk. "What were we doing today--not project work, right? Caden and Nerlin coming over for some games?"
Atlas nodded. "Pyxis is coming too. Caden said she'd bring her set of Two-fold tiles, so we can play that once everyone is here."
"Great." Jarzyl searched through the modest mess at her desk, then she went over to her flight harness and reached for a specific pouch, from which she pulled out a pocket watch. "Caden said she would end class late. We have some time."
Atlas was quiet for a moment. "I spoke to your father. He was nesting the egg."
Jarzyl made a dismissive snort. "He sure loves to sit on that thing. Every free moment he's home, he spends with his wing over that round thing. My mother does it too. I don't know why they bother, since we already have a nesting box."
Atlas smirked. "It's an expression of love? You do realize that everything you see your parents doing with your future sibling's egg, they probably did with your egg too, yes?" Moving closer, he sat down on the floor cushion beside Jarzyl, then he flipped open his wing and draped it over her back. "Like this. You were just a little egg, and they kept you warm, hugging you against their side."
"I wasn't a little egg. I was a big egg that didn't come out easy, and by the sky spirits I sure hope that sort of thing isn't inheritable. But anyway, obviously I don't have any recollection about whether my parents left my egg in a nesting box or kept it warm themselves. Who cares?" Jarzyl shifted closer to him, snuggling against his side and holding his wing around her, but she shook her head. "It's pointless. I understand taking care of a hatchling, because they are truly... little people with minds and irritating personalities, who can learn and interact with the world. But what does an egg know? It's just yolk and protein at this point, with a few cells dividing and growing. There isn't even a brain or a mind inside that shell yet. What's the use?"
Atlas lifted away his wing and furled it back up. "Maybe it's not for the usefulness. Maybe they just enjoy it."
"It's a weird thing to enjoy."
"Is it, really?" Atlas gestured around. "It's nature. Aeons upon aeons, through countless generations, nature has selected to make us social animals. It feels nice to take care of other people, and nesting an egg is similar to that. Maybe you should try it. You might enjoy it."
Jarzyl flicked her neck frill dismissively. "Uggh, my parents asked me exactly that. They said I should at least try keeping the egg warm as a... a sibling thing. No thanks! It's such a waste of time, to sit around and act as a heater."
Glancing at his friend, Atlas imagined what she would look like nesting an egg. That mental image did feel a little odd. He changed the topic. "What should we do now?"
"I don't know. The others won't be here for a while." Jarzyl shrugged, then she leapt to her feet. and scampered to the middle of the room. "Dance...?" Springing off her forelegs, then her hindlegs, she flicked her wings and did a graceful backflip. Landing lightly on her paws, she bounced about between her limbs and waved her tail.
"Not so sleepy anymore, I see," Atlas noted.
"Dance!" Jarzyl repeated. Raising her wings to level, she held one wing in front of herself, then the other, moving them back and forth in front of her face as she grinned playfully.
Atlas didn't have her fancy footwork, but he tried to wave his wings in a poor imitation of her moves. He wasn't any good at dancing, but Jarzyl didn't mind. She laughed and smiled.
Jarzyl back shuffled her way over to her bed, then she grabbed her radio set and tugged it out from under the bed. Leaning down, she closed her eyes and pressed the side of her head against the radio while fiddling with the knobs. Then in a single casual motion she straightened up, grabbed the coiled-up antenna wire, and tossed it across the room. As the coil unrolled, the radio went from silence to a faint buzzing which quickly sharpened into the clear, lively sound of energetic music.
Atlas was impressed. "That was smooth."
"Oh yeah, yeah." Jarzyl rocked her head back and forth to the beat, keeping one wing held tightly shut while flicking the other. She thumped her tail against the ground, then resumed her dance moves, moving her body with an easy grace.
Atlas didn't dance, but he hummed along with the song and bobbed his head. The radio was playing a popular song, and he knew the lyrics and the tune. As the music continued, he sang along softly. "Let me scream, for it's hard to breathe, it's so cold up here, we must be near."
"Beep, beep, beep!" Abruptly, the radio let out a series of beeps and a light flashed, then it went completely silent. Atlas's voice trailed off, while Jarzyl froze mid dance-step.
"Bother." She bent down to check the radio set. "The coils are depleted. I forgot to energize them since the last time I used this thing." Jarzyl sighed, then nodded at Atlas. "Hey, you knew that song, right?"
"Yes. I can play it on the wing harp. Shame I didn't bring it today." Atlas mimed moving his wings back and forth, like he was playing a wing harp, pushing air across the resonant tubes of the instrument. But the only wing harp he had access to was borrowed from the school, and he hadn't taken it home today.
Jarzyl hummed a catchy series of notes from the song's chorus. "Just sing it for me, will you?"
"I'm not a good..." Atlas begun to say, but then he cut himself off. He cleared his throat, then picked up the song right where the radio had faded out. "So come real close and have a look, I don't care where we going. I know it's not for sure, but we might be here!"
Jarzyl resumed dancing--not quite as quickly as she had with the radio, because Atlas sung it to a slightly slower tempo. She sang along too, matching him. "Oh, alright! Out here over a lost land, we might never be found again. All these mountain tops so kissed with snow, oh, oh!"
Their voices overlapped and harmonized together. As the song came to its end, he dragged out the last note, while Jarzyl made a wide flourish of her wings. Simple as it was, Atlas felt a deep connection in that moment.
He smiled, sitting down on his haunches. "You should have taken music class. You'd enjoy making music."
"Oh, I don't have the patience like you do to learn how to play an instrument." Jarzyl took her radio set and connected its cable to the light field projector, and then she left the device to charge.
"Now what?" Atlas asked.
"What else can we do?" Jarzyl thought for a moment, then her gaze sharpened and locked on him. "What about a duel? It's been a while since we had a good duel. On guard! Yah!"
With a cheerful shout, Jarzyl darted towards him, and Atlas leapt to a stand. He had always been poor at mock duels--he was a cripple missing a foreleg, which left him at a huge disadvantage in mobility, reach, and striking power. In contrast, Jarzyl had always been agile and enthusiastic. Back when they'd been younger hatchlings, she'd been one of the best duellists whenever the physical education classes at school let them practice duels.
Jarzyl lunged straight at him. She got her jaws around his neck, while shoving her paws against his chest to push him over onto his back. Atlas adjusted his stand and, unexpectedly, he resisted her tackle--he had to take a small hop back, but she couldn't just push him over like she used to be able to. She did have a bite on his neck, which in a true fight could have been lethal, but in a mock duel you weren't allowed to choke someone's throat.
"Huh?" Jarzyl appeared just as surprised as he was. Her eyes widened, and she tried again to shove him, pressing her shoulder against his, but Atlas still didn't get knocked over. Then it was his turn. Copying her move, he shoved her back using his shoulder and his sole forelimb, and he was able to push her right over onto her back.
Jarzyl let out a grunt as she thumped back against the floor, with her wings spread open to slow the fall. Given that she had four legs and Atlas had three, he couldn't grab her limbs, but instead he casually stood over her. "Did you just lose? Unexpected."
Jarzyl's neck frill was perked up as she stared up at him, resting her paws against his chest. "How did you...?! Have you been practicing duels?"
Atlas laughed. "Do you think I would practice duels?"
Jarzyl swallowed. "You can't be heavier than me--I've seen how fast you fly."
"Guess I just got lucky."
"Ok, ok." Jarzyl wiggled out from under him, since he hadn't properly pinned her down, and she smoothly rolled back into a stand. "You're stronger than I remember." Without any further warning, she tackled him again. This time instead of going head on, she hopped sideways and then went for his side. Atlas flicked out his left wing, trying to either push her away or just protect his ribcage, but Jarzyl grabbed the leading edge of his wing and used that as leverage to flip him off his feet.
Atlas stumbled sideways, lost his balance, and then fell to the ground. He landed on the floor cushion and before he could get up, Jarzyl pushed him fully onto his back and clambered over him. Unlike with his earlier attempt, she then pinned him properly--spreading his hindlegs with hers to make sure that he couldn't kick her off, grabbing his forelimb by the wrist and holding it back against the cushion, and then getting his neck in a firm bite. Chest against chest, she used her body weight to hold him down.
With his legs and his wings pinned, the only limb Atlas could still freely move was his tail. He tried moving it about, but there wasn't anything in reach that he could try to grab. Instead he used his tail tip to poke at Jarzyl's flanks. She squirmed when he tried to tickle her, then her tail entwined with his, cutting away that last remaining movement.
Atlas struggled once, then he went limp under Jarzyl's pin. "Yes, that's more what I expected to happen."
Jarzyl didn't say anything, but she did growl softly with his throat in her jaws. A victorious, daring glint flashed in her eyes. After a few more seconds, she released his neck, though not his limbs. "Maybe I should practice duelling more. I guess I'll need different strategies now that we're all so much bigger."
Long ago, duels had once been a real method by which dragons could settle disputes or defend their honour, through challenging each other to single ritual combat. Come the modern age, duelling had become strictly outlawed under agreement between all the major drakken clans as an uncivilized, outdated means of dispute resolution that only encouraged violence rather than diplomacy. But the real innovation which had gotten dragons to stop duelling each other had been to train hatchlings how to mock duel safely--no using claws or teeth, avoid striking the head or neck, and no choking--then promptly once they became fledglings, teach that duelling was a childish form of play and not something that proper, mature adults would do.
So hatchlings play wrestled and challenged each other to mock duels, as a practice of martial skill, strength, and exercise. But the fledgling's form of exercise was to fly, using those freshly developed wing muscles to explore the world, and leaving behind the idea of brawling about on the ground. Fledglings were supposed to grow past all that. At school, now they were old enough that no one duelled each other, and they instead smugly looked down at younger hatchlings who still playfully tussled about.
Except Jarzyl, who seemed to enjoy tackling him in private. "Dueling and wrestling are for hatchlings. Fledglings practice flying," Atlas retorted.
"That is true. I do enjoy flying." While still pinning down Atlas's three legs, Jarzyl ran her other paw over Atlas's wing, touching the large, hexagonal scale plates that ran over the leading edge, then feeling the flight muscles at the wing base. "Mhhm, wing. Delicious."
Atlas let out a bark of laughter. "Hah. You going to eat me?"
Jarzyl nibbled at his neck again. "Maybe I will."
"No you're not." Atlas bumped his snout against Jarzyl's head. "Are you going to let me go now?"
Lying on top of him, Jarzyl grinned. She patted him on the cheek, then with a flutter of her wings she leapt off him. Keeping her wings open, she flapped them slowly, wafting air against her body. "I'm feeling really warm today."
Atlas got back to his feet. "It's cause you are constantly exerting yourself. Running, dancing, jumping at people."
Jarzyl danced on the spot, bouncing between her paws. "I live my life in high speeeeeed! But also, the weather is baking hot today... do you want to get ice cream?"
Atlas gestured towards the corridor. "From the kitchen?"
"No. There's a new dessert store that opened up in the neighbourhood just last week. It's only a few streets away, maybe two minutes worth of flight. Interested?"
"Ice cream? Sure."
"Great." With an air of impatient urgency, Jarzyl grabbed her flight harness and pulled it onto her body. She did up the buckles and pulled the straps with practiced ease. "Uh, wait here a moment. I'll go tell my father where we're going, in case the others get here early and don't know where we've gone." Then she scampered down the corridor excitedly.
Atlas didn't have to wait long--half a minute later, Jarzyl came sprinting back to her bedroom. "Ok, ok, let's go!" Rushing past Atlas, she ran swiftly out onto the balcony and then leapt into open air, spreading her wings to take flight. Moving smoothly, Atlas followed after her.
Jarzyl drew a sharp breath between clenched teeth. "That looks good."
"It does," Atlas agreed.
Both the fledglings were staring eagerly as a restaurant server--who was also a fledgling, though not someone they knew--scooped out various flavours of ice cream to fill a bowl. The server added a flourish of nuts and some sauce, then he slid the ice cream bowl onto the countertop towards them. "Here you go. Enjoy."
"Thanks!" Jarzyl grabbed the bowl and grinned at Atlas. "Do you think I could balance this on my nose and walk all the way to the table?"
"I think you feel tempted to try, but common sense will prevail, given the risk would be losing all that ice cream." Atlas grabbed a carrying basket from the order counter, and then he slung it over his neck. Dragons (other than Atlas) could carry things in one paw and walk three-legged, or they could even carry things with two forepaws and walk slowly on their hindlegs only, but the fastest and easiest way was just to use a basket and walk on four legs (three legs, in Atlas's case).
Jarzyl held the bowl and careful put it into the basket, making sure it wouldn't slide. "Okay." She trotted ahead of Atlas, leading the way through the café until they got to a booth. Both fledglings sat down together at the same side, and Atlas took the ice cream bowl out from the basket and set it down on the table. Even though it was mid-afternoon, this restaurant still had a few customers besides them, here to enjoy a drink or snack between mealtimes.
"Ice, cream!" Jarzyl declared in a pleased, cheery tone. Then she stuck out her tongue and licked at the scooped ice cream, right out from the bowl.
Atlas picked up a pair of spoons and offered another one to Jarzyl, but she just grinned and kept licking at the ice cream directly. Atlas then used his spoon the scoop the ice cream, along with some of the nuts and sauce, to eat. "This is nice."
"Very nice," Jarzyl agreed. She shifted her position slightly to lean against him, shoulder against shoulder. She continued to eat the ice cream by licking it out of the bowl.
"How much do I owe you?"
"One hex."
Atlas reached down to his flight harness and flipped open his coin pouch to take out a single gold coin that was, like a drakken currency, similar in shape and size to a dragon scale. Atlas offered the hexagonal coin to Jarzyl, and she slipped it into her own flight harness. "Thanks."
Atlas noticed that from the clink sound, Jarzyl had a lot more gold in her coin pouch than he did. Not that he was surprised, given that she was from an apex clan whereas he was clanless. Then he wondered if the price of the ice cream had even been two hexes, or if Jarzyl had paid more without even mentioning it to him. It had been her idea to share. Just casually deciding to come eat dessert from a café in a prime neighbourhood of sector one was well within her means, but it wouldn't have been within his.
A sense of uncertainty swept over Atlas, clouding his mood. He was clanless, whereas Jarzyl was from an apex clan. He was a cripple, whereas Jarzyl was energetic and mobile. He was quiet and awkward, while she was friendly and confident and so pretty that he could hardly even enunciate it.
Come to think of it, he couldn't even recall how they had first become friends as hatchlings--for some reason she had just seemed to gravitate towards him, and adventure had followed. Now they were fledglings and things were different. They were still friends close as ever, but maybe more? Though whatever this was between them, he didn't know if it would last.
More than anything else though, he wanted it to last.
Jarzyl flicked her neck frill, drawing him out of his thoughts. Her snout was messy with ice cream. "Hmm? You alright? Ice cream not to your liking?"
Atlas shook his head, then nodded. "No, it's good. I was just thinking about... things."
Jarzyl looked curious. "What sort of things?"
Atlas wasn't sure how to explain. "The past, the future. The present."
"That's everything. I always knew you were smart, but that's a lot of thinking even for you." Jarzyl grinned. "Worry less, eat more ice cream."
That made Atlas laugh, and Jarzyl laughed too, making the moment feel warm and comfortable. Taking her advice, he kept eating the ice cream.
Atlas's style was to slowly scoop away at the ice cream, eating it one small spoonful at a time--in contrast, Jarzyl took big impatient bites, and she swallowed quickly. Casually she turned the ice cream bowl, to get an even mix of the different flavours and toppings.
Using his spoon, Atlas tapped at a collection of small round objects in the bowl, covered in ice cream. "What is that? Candy?"
"Berries," Jarzyl replied.
"What sort of berries?" Atlas asked, but he already had a suspicion. Jarzyl had chosen the toppings while he had chosen the ice cream flavours, and he knew what sort of berries she liked.
Instead of answering the question, Jarzyl squinted at him with a faint smile. "Try a berry and find out for yourself."
Atlas chuckled. "Sourberries, then."
Jarzyl was grinning slyly. "Eat the berries," she insisted, and she bumped her shoulder against his.
Atlas shook his head. He was also grinning. "You eat the berries. You're the one who likes sourberries. They're too sour."
"Yes, which makes them a great complement for the sweet ice cream. Contrast makes things better. And I already ate most of the berries. You have to eat some too. Fruits have vitamins and are good for your health, or something." Bending her head down, Jarzyl took another bite of ice cream. She swallowed it down, then she gingerly used her teeth to pick up a berry from the bowl. She rolled it around her mouth to lick it clean of ice cream, taking care not to bite down, then she grabbed it with a paw and put it right into Atlas mouth.
"Mhhm!" Atlas blinked, too stunned to react for a moment, then he used his tongue to take the berry before pushing Jarzyl's digits out of his mouth. For a moment he could taste her saliva from when she'd licked the berry, then he slowly chewed, which made fruity flavour spread over his tongue. It was sour enough to make him wince slightly. "I think that sets a new record for the least hygienic thing I've ever seen you do."
Jarzyl licked her paw, staring at him as she did it. "No it isn't. I've done worse. And to you, even."
Atlas thought about it. "Yeah, you're right."
Jarzyl finally picked up a spoon. "Do you mind if I...?" Atlas thought she was going to scoop some ice cream so he nodded, but Jarzyl then used the spoon to vigorously mix the sundae, blending up the different ice cream flavours, the sauce, as well as the nuts, berries, and other toppings.
Atlas could only laugh. "Really?"
"I like it this way. It's easier to eat." Putting down the spoon, Jarzyl against lowered her snout and lapped at the bowl of mixed-up sundae, now partially liquified by her efforts. Jarzyl paused when she slurped up another berry. "Mmh. Sour." She chewed and swallowed it down.
"You really like sourberries, don't you?"
"Oh yes. They're one of my favourites."
"What's your most favourite food?"
Jarzyl's neck frill perked up as she thought about it. "Hmm. I don't know. Maybe mushroom soup? Or roasted breakhorn steak? Or maybe you." With a wide grin she gently gnawed at Atlas's throat again.
Atlas glanced around, but there wasn't anyone else sitting nearby, let alone watching them. He calmly continued using the spoon to eat the sundae. "Acquired a cannibalistic taste for flesh, have we?"
"Rawr." Jarzyl had gotten some ice cream onto his neck scales, but now she released her bite and licked his throat clean. "What about you? What's your favourite thing to eat?"
"It's a tie between seaweed or an ice cream sundae," Atlas replied. "That is, if we're actually talking about food, and not tasty things that don't count as food."
"Heh." Jarzyl giggled, and then she leaned right over and tried to bite at Atlas's snout--not even in a kiss, but opening her jaws wide so that his snout was in her mouth. "I'm... eat you..."
Abruptly, Jarzyl and Atlas's eyes darted to the side as someone came up to their booth--not the waiter, but another fledgling with scales in shades of blue who watched them with a curious look. Jarzyl hurriedly stopped biting Atlas's snout. "Uhh. Oh hi, Pyxis."
Atlas took another scoop of melting ice cream, and both he and Jarzyl pretended nothing had been happening. "Hey, Pyx."
Pyxis slowly nodded her head. She had a neck frill like Jarzyl though hers was shorter, and it perked up from curiosity. "Hey Atlas, Jarz. I went to your place but your father said you two were over here. I hope I'm not... interrupting anything?"
Atlas and Jarzyl both frowned at her like it was a weird question. "Interrupting what?" Atlas asked.
"Uh, never mind."
Jarzyl gestured expressively at the bowl of melted, mostly finished sundae. "Do you want some ice cream? It's good."
"It is good," Atlas confirmed.
Pyxis squinted suspiciously at them before shrugging. "I... will get my own. Let me go look at the flavours!" She trotted away to the café's front counter.
Jarzyl and Atlas shared a glance at each other, then they both broke into laughter.
END