thebastion | Day 277 [Open]

Entry tags:

Day 277 [Open]

Who: Zuko and anyone
Open: Open!
When: Day 277
Where: Near the river
What: BABBY DRAGON
Format: I'll match
Warnings: Honor

It's been a few days since Zuko paid a visit to the Monument for some personal purchases. Most of those were swiftly hidden away inside her house, although the faint sounds of music the past few evenings might have given one of them away.

She's much less secretive about her final purchase. She's had to be, really, because it was in fact a gigantic egg, and she hasn't let that thing out of her sight for a moment. This doesn't mean that she's given up any of her usual activities, aside from Skyway trips, but even while she's training or at the pool it's always been sitting nearby wrapped in a blanket.

But today's the day. She's just finishing up her training routine on the Bastion side of the river when she hears something stirring inside. She immediately crouches down to watch with rapt attention as something slowly emerges: a baby red dragon, serpentine and nearly the length of her arm.

This is the moment where all her doubts come back to her because she has never so much as seen a baby dragon before much less taken care of one. What do.

((Feel free to run into her pre- or post-hatching, and anywhere in the general vicinity of the lake!))

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So, it's hatched, huh?

[Yep, it's Zuko's favorite person in the world next to Azula...]

Hello there, little one. It's nice to meet you.

[Colin smiles at the baby dragon, speaking gently and with a pleasant tone. He won't get too close. The dragons he knows are territorial and slow to trust.]

Yeah.

[Mostly it seems skittish at the moment. Zuko catches it from crawling up past her ear to keep it in her hands.]

...you wouldn't know anything about dragons, would you?

A decent amount, actually. What would you like to know?

[He eyes the bitty, and he gives a faint smile.]

If it's anything like the dragons where I'm from, it's looking for an enclosed space. They typically lair in caverns and other tight spots, and a baby dragon will try to hide behind rocks with its mom until its first meal.

[Well, that makes sense. Ran and Shaw lived in caves, right? Maybe she can find it a box or something.]

What do you feed them?

The dragons I'm familiar with are omnivorous, but they vastly prefer meat. Cubed pieces of elk or cow steak, or some fish filet, would be wonderful for the little one, along with a little rice and some orange slices for other nutrients. If you can convince it to eat veggies, it would be good for it, but like most children, I doubt it will want anything to do with them for a while.

[He takes a couple steps closer, finally scanning the dragon to check its teeth, vitals, and gender.]

It's going to be a little antsy until it eats, then it's likely to sleep for a while. Young dragons burn a LOT of energy while their metabolism sorts itself out.

[Zuko nods. She figured meat, but she wasn't sure if babies needed like... special food??]

I can do that.

[Yeah. This shouldn't be so hard. She cups her hands so the little thing can at least hide its head in there, and gets to her feet. Time to go find some food.

Also spoilers: it's a girl. Not that Zuko has any fucking clue how to tell.]

[Colin grins slightly.]

Two more things... One, she's imprinted on you, so she'll be taking a LOT of cues from you on how to behave. If you pet her and play with her frequently, she'll grow up nice and friendly. A good belly rub will do wonders for her mood, if she gets used to it.

And second, you'll want to introduce her to people early, so she doesn't grow up reclusive. The more you socialize her, the better. I bet she'd probably get along great with the Pokemon, too. The important thing, though, is that you talk to her a LOT. You're going to be the most important person to her. Soft, kind words will reassure her and comfort her, let her know that you care about her.

Don't get used to talking like she's not there, like we're doing now, she won't like that. Will you, little one?

Edited 2015-02-05 18:26 (UTC)

Even though she can't understand what we're saying?

[Wait.]

How do you know it's a she?

Dragons, even young dragons, are very intelligent. She's probably too young to pick it up now, but I suspect she'll start surprising you almost immediately. It's best if you start getting used to how you'll need to behave now, rather than later. Even if she's not able to converse like Paar, I suspect that she will start understanding just about everything we all say starting soon.

[He smiles at her question, and points to his eye.]

Ran a quick medical scan to make sure she had a good hatching. You've got a healthy baby girl right there.

Edited 2015-02-05 19:08 (UTC)

Oh.

[Why does that make her feel like a proud mom? She didn't do anything except put some shiny rocks in a monument.

She gently rubs the baby under the chin with a finger.]

Sorry. We're gonna find you something to eat, all right?

[Colin keeps smiling, and he gives a little wave of his hand.]

There you go.

I can see about having the lab grow some easy-to-digest meats for her, if you want? Easy to cut small for her, easy to eat?

[The dragon is not coming out of Zuko's hands, but she seems less like she's trying to hide and more like she's just comfy there.]

Sure. If it's not too much trouble.

No trouble, it's important to take care of the kids.

[Yep, Colin's watching the dragon just a little longer, and the smile turns into a pleased grin.]

Yep, she knows who mama is. She looks like she's settling in with you just fine.

Yeah.

[Baby dragon likes her. =)

For now she's going to start walking towards the distillery.]

It's hard to believe they start off this small though.

[Colin gives a gentle laugh, and follows behind her. She seems to be taking the advice well, so he'll stick with it.]

Kids are amazing that way. I bet you could get Haruka to do a picture of you and her. Something to remember today by.

[Well... maybe he could paint the dragon, and just leave her out of it.]

I did see him drawing the other day. Is he any good?

He's been doing it most of his life, and he's got a weak heart, so it's pretty much one of his primary hobbies.

[Whoops, Zuko's self esteem rears its head again...]

I bet he'd be thrilled if you asked him to draw a picture.

[But what would she do with a picture of herself??]

Yeah, he told me about that. I'm just not sure I understand it.

Still, you don't have to run a lot to paint.

[Look back on it with fond memories of what once was, when your dragon is now bigger than you and acting all teenage-rebelliony?]

Exactly.

It's a medical condition, one of those weird things that you can't detect without a lot of science and knowledge of what to look for. He probably wouldn't have lived very long in a less advanced world.

[That's what the painting of the dragon is for.]

Hey. Just because I'm not a healer, doesn't mean we didn't have people skilled enough to match your technology. I'm sure Katara could have done something for him.

I don't mean this as an insult... Just as a reference of how badly off he is.

Unless she could grow him a new heart, she couldn't. That's about the only that will actually heal him. Otherwise, he needs a lot of medicine, very little physical exertion, and a trained doctor within a mile of him at all times. Just running for too long could kill him.

[Yep, that turned the conversation a little somber.]

Edited 2015-02-05 21:58 (UTC)

Well, she brought the Avatar back after my sister struck him with lightning.

[That's pretty bad for your heart, right?]

...I guess we'll all just have to look out for him.

... That kind of revival is impressive, I will definitely admit that.

But.. yeah. I'm keeping an eye out for him. He knows what he needs to do, though. He's been living with this all his life.

We can't heal him yet, but... we can definitely take care of him if he needs us to.

[Zuko nods her agreement. And maybe she should discourage the jogging if she sees him at it again.

Oh, look, it's the distillery. She brings the baby dragon up closer to her face to talk to her.]

Here we are. This is where we all eat.

[Or at least those of them who can't cook.]

[Colin grins again at Zuko's actions.]

Once she starts to recognize this as a place where she can get food, she'll start making all kinds of associations with it.

Food is a great way to teach youngsters things.

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