Posted July 6 2009
Libraries and Misbehaving Dragons
Keeta puttered around the kids section of the library with Camille and Joel. It was about half an hour until story time and Keeta was helping her children pick out some books to read to them at home, particularly since she had packed up most of their books at home.
Only a few more days until she moved. Her heart fluttered when she thought about it. It was the last big step before she and Rhine tied the knot.
Joel was looking through all the books about planes, cars and trucks, like many boys his age. In this regard he was the stereotypical boy and loved playing with all forms of transportation, be it a boat, car, plane or train. He wasn't exactly delicate as he plowed through the books, leaving the discarded ones on the floor.
Keeta tried to keep up with him and protect the books, but it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Joel finally settled on one and plopped down on the floor. He flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures.
Camille was more interested in the Disney princess books and the books with pictures of animals and flowers. She was more cautious, treating the books gently and putting away the ones she wasn't interested in. She finally picked a book with a picture of a girl and a cat on the cover.
Smiling, she carried it over to one of the child-sized tables and started to turn the pages. Every so often she would point to a letter and proudly proclaim it's name. Keeta had been teaching her a few letters. So far, she solidly knew about five.
Pushing his hair out of his eyes the male scanned the shelves, he wanted to get another book about running one's own business to read... The book seemed to be like... missing. Surion looks up suddenly when the weight from his one shoulder lessened suddenly, Senti had gotten bored, Kuyl was still being good but the more playful of the two... he was harder to keep still... And the small dragon was more interested in exploring, and thus he bolted across the room and around the corner... into the children's area sensing more people
Joel, having had his 'pair' of eyes on the book, and the third center eye roving the room was the first to notice the small dragon. Quickly the other two eyes joined the first and he grinned."It fly!" He giggled and pointed, kicking his legs in excitement. He didn't know what it was, but it flew like the planes he liked so much, so it was instantly cool in Joel's opinion.
Keeta looked up as soon as Joel spoke and ducked out of instinct. She let a slight cry of alarm, along with a few other mothers who had congregated in the area. Was that a dragon?!
"What the...."
Camille didn't look up until she heard the uncertainty in her mother's tone. Her eyes grew wide and she ran over to Keeta, wrapping herself around her mother's legs, using her as 'shield' against the UFO.
Surion let our a sigh of exasperation as he his hand dropped from the shelf and he muttered under his breath to the red dragonette which was still atop his opposite shoulder that had been vacated. "Least you behave Kuyl". The male turned on his heal, his black cloak billowed around him as he headed towards the direction Senti had gone 'get your butt back here' he told the misbehaving dragonette in his head.
Senti paid little to no attention to this at all... Small people!!! This was far more interesting then books... He loved playing with Natalia, maybe these little people would be just as fun!!! He lands lightly atop the lap of the giggling boy standing on his hind paws chittering like a crazy thing to the boy.
"Hihi!" Joel said to the creature, pleased it had come to him. He giggled all the more and was about to pet the miniature dragon, when Keeta approached, drawing his attention.
Keeta had made her way over surprisingly quickly with Camille wrapped around her like she was. While this little dragon made keeta nervous, she was not about to let it do something to her fearless son.
Sometimes she wished Joel was more skiddish, like Camille. It would mean he might not get himself into as many pickles. She waved he hands at the dragon, hoping it would frighten it off. Keeta didn't know if this thing was dangerous or friendly, and Joel was not about to be the test subject.
Senti looked up at the woman like she was insane or something, he made no effort whatsoever to move, he'd seen far more 'frightening' things in his lifetime. His head tips at her chittering and bouncing playfully on the lap he was atop.
"Senti where the heck did you go" Surion goes from one room to the next of the library before entering the children's area, his cloak billowed with his movements. His long dark blue and silver streaked hair was again 1/2 covering his face, only half of his face visible, the side with the lip-ring showing. His wings were not visible, but his horns, sharp teeth and tail were visible, he wore hisnormal black pants with the belts around the legs which he usually wore, plus a white tank and red silk button down shirt (which was open).
He was soon in the line of site of the group in the children's library but had stopped moving and was looking around.
"Shoo!" Keeta said, continuing to try and get the dragon off her son. She didn't want to resort to touching it, but if it didn't get off soon, she would make an attempt to physically remove it.
"Get off him! Shoo!" she repeated, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. Keeta was so absorbed with the small dragon, that she failed to notice Surion's entrance.
Joel, however, was thoroughly amused by the sight of his mother trying to remove this creature. He didn't understand that she was afraid for him, rather thinking she was just playing a game. He was having a ball!
Camille scooted away, when she realized Keeta had actually brought her *closer* to the creature. Her mommy was not managing to get rid of it either.
The small girl looked around, as if seeking help from another source, and her eyes found the man who had just entered the children's library area. At first, his imposing appearance made her afraid, but as she looked longer, she realized he looked familiar. Tentatively, she approached him (but not too close).
"Frog man?" she asked, not knowing his name, but thinking of the gift he had given her at the pool
Surion looked towards the voices he could only guess when he heard the shooing what was going on, and this theory proved correct when he saw what exactly it was the female was trying to shoo... Then he recognized the shooer and smiled turning and heading in that direction. He paused briefly hearing the child's voice "Well I suppose you could say that, but... Surion fits better" he winks and pauses near her.
Senti looks towards Surion, he still hasn't moved despite this woman's attempts and starts chittering once more. The sounds of the chittering could almost pass as a child very excited.
Camille smiled, glad this big man was the person she remembered and not someone new and scary. She noticed the other dragonette on his shoulder and pointed from it to the one seated on Joel.
"Sur-on help mommy?" she asked, not quite getting his name right, but at least she tried. Her mommy definitely needed help.
Keeta looked at Senti, exasperated. Why wouldn't it move? She was about to try and pick up the creature when she noticed it's attention drawn elsewhere. Instinctively, she turned to look at what Senti was noticing, hoping as she did so that turning away wasn't a stupid mistake. She was relieved to see Surion there. True, they hardly knew one another, but recognized him. Noticing Kuyl, she spoke.
"Is this yours?" There was hope in her voice. If it belonged to Surion, surely it couldn't be dangerous. Plus, there would be someone else to take care of dragon removal.
Joel, taking advantage of Keeta's distraction, grabbed Senti's tail, laughing at the dragonette's chittering.
"Don't worry" he says to the girl before moving past. "That it would, that it would" he was scolding the dragonette in his mind and it pouted.... least till Joel took Senti's tail at which time it did an about face looking directly to Joel and started chittering happily. "He wont hurt your son... but he definitely needs to behave that's for certain"
Surion approaches the trio debating if he should try and extract the dragonette from Joel's grasp or let the dragonette learn the hard way
Joel grinned wide at the Senti's reaction and grabbed the tail with both hands now, tugging on it. This creature was harder to pull on than that Bunkichi at home! It was more of a challenge. Joel was always interested in meeting and overcoming a challenge.
Keeta frowned at Joel, shaking her head. She couldn't believe he was encouraging the dragonette. Sighing she looked back at Surion.
"I'm glad to hear it's not dangerous. It's a miniature dragon?" she asked for the sake of getting her mind in the correct position to deal with this obstacle.
"Sorry for the rude greeting," she said, blushing slightly with shame.
"I was just worried about Joel. I didn't know what it was and whether it would hurt him. Not that it seemed to bother *him* much."
Camille followed behind Surion, now using him as the shield between herself and the chittering dragonette. Even if it wasn't dangerous like she'd hear her mommy and 'Sur-on' say, she didn't want to get too close.
A momententary look of shock registered on Senti's face at the pull on his tail, though the look didn't last long as Senti began this new game... It was much different then the games he played with Nat, in fact it was more like a play-fight or tug-of-war as his attention didn't waver.
Kuyl by now had sat up and then hopped lightly off Surion's shoulder, the red dragonette gliding to land lightly on the top of a low bookshelf where he sat and observed.
"It's a dragonette" Surion nods "It's bonded to me, it helps me preserve extra energy for times of need, sometimes it just stays in it's natural form atop my spear as it was made by Eirnae years ago." Surion tried to explain as he gave his attention to Keeta now that he'd at least located the misbehaving dragon. "And don't worry I understand, Senti seems to like kids or 'little people' as he calls them. He plays with Natalia when I'm visiting them"
Joel giggled. This was MUCH more fun than playing with the Bunkichi. He wiggled so his legs were no longer under the dragonette, trying to get better leverage as he tugged again.
Camille watched as Kuyl alighted from Surion's shoulder gripping the edge of his cloak, ready to dive underneath it if need be. She relaxed when she saw the small dragon land on a bookshelf a ways away.
"Ah, I see." Keeta wasn't sure she understood the mechanics of how they were bonded to Surion or how they preserved energy, but she got the basic idea, which is all that was needed. When she saw how Joel was tugging on Senti's tail she scolded him.
"Joel! Leave him alone! You'll hurt him. He's not a toy!" Keeta didn't really believe Joel would, or could, hurt Senti, but she didn't want him to think it was ok to just start pulling on random creatures. Probability dictated that eventually one of the creatures he pulled on would not appreciate it, and would retaliate. Joel needed to learn this lesson sooner rather than later.
Surion looks down feeling the grip on his cloak and smiles "one sec" he says to Keeta and then crouches for a moment beside Camille "His name is Kuyl" he tells her though it sounded much more like he had said 'cool' as he motioned the red dragonette calmly sitting on the shelf, he pauses and thinks for a moment "want to feel something funny?" he asks her.
Senti looked up at the sudden scolding he heard from Keeta, and in this movement Joel 'won' the battle as the dragonette lost his footing and landed squarely on his butt. It sat there a moment and blinked in surprise then toppled back onto his back chittering away once more even more excited and loudly declaring in Surion's mind it was a fun and good fight
"Cool? Something funny?" Camille repeated, saying it like she heard it, looking from Surion to the dragonette. She looks back at Surion searchingly, as if trying to decide whether or not to trust him. She recognized the fact that to 'feel' something would require participation on her part. She wasn't sure about that.
"Feel what?"
Joel disregarded his mother. He was having far too much fun! When Senti 'lost' and landed on his bottom, Joel let go of the tail because he was laughing so hard. His gleeful laughter started drawing stares from the others in the area who were waiting for story time.
Keeta looked at them sheepishly, making a vain attempt to quiet him. She hoped the librarian wouldn't feel the need to come over.
Surion gave Camille a gentle reassuring smile "Well it might tickle a little, but I promise it's not bad... What you need to do is stand very still and put your hand like this" he tells her and holds a hand out just a bit, palm side up in front of him, never once leaving the same height as the child.
Senti stopped making noise though laying still exactly where he was, his little chest heeving up
and down as if he was catching his breath. His head looks to Keeta and then back to Joel an obvious grin on his little maw
Kuyl on the other hand stopped watching the room and just watched Surion with this small person he didnt know.
Camille stands there silent for a moment, before slowly and nervously nodding her head. She carefully modeled his pose, eyes wide with anticipation of what he was going to do.
Keeta raised an eyebrow at Senti's pleased expression, as if silently reprimanding him, as she crouched down next to Joel. She put an arm around him, pulling the small boy into her lap, trying to calm him.
At first Joel fought her, not wanting to give up his fun, but when Keeta told him they would have to miss out on story time if he didn't quiet down, he soon lowered his volume. Joel really enjoyed coming to story time and wanted to see the pictures in the books. None of his pleasure diminished, however and his grin matched Senti's.
He smiles and reaches to Kuyl, hand out palm down, the dragonette stands and hops onto Surion's hand which Surion then brings back towards the pair of them, but not too fast. Surion stops his hand shortly before the child's hand and the dragonette looks at her.
Kuyl's little eyes watch her for a short time before he leans forward, first sniffing at Camille's hand before licking it, in his own way judging if this little person was a threat to Surion at all. It didn't take Kuyl long to decide the child was not a threat and he stepped one paw onto her hand and stopped, looking up at her and then licking the tip of her nose before stepping back onto Surion's hand looking slightly bored.
Senti flips over onto his paws once more when the laughter quiets, and he moves into the pair's lap sitting there with tail wrapped around himself looking up at Joel then at Keeta, that grin never leaving his face
Camille hesitated in her stance as Surion brought Kuyl closer, but the 'frog man's' promise kept her there, albeit nervously. She flinched when Kuyl licked her hand, not knowing what to expect,. After a short moment she allowed a small smile to appear on her face and a quiet giggle passed her lips. It *did* tickle!
She gasped and froze, however, when the dragonette stepped onto her hand and licked her nose. Surion hadn't told her it would do that! Her breathing grew more rapid as she tried to be brave and she barely blinked, her eyes crossing as they watched Kuyl's face come close to her own. As soon as it had started it was over, however, and Kuyl's weight was fully back on Surion's hand. Camille didn't speak, she just stood there, still frozen.
Joel couldn't have been happier to have Senti sit beside him in Keeta's lap. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around the dragonette's neck in a hug.
"Shh...we have to be qwiet," he said, as if hoping that would appease Keeta and his new friend would get to stay.
Keeta gasped and then frowned when Senti joined Joel in her lap. She had not invited the dragonette to share the space, but apparently he didn't seem to think one was needed. Sighing, she relented, especially when she saw Joel's excited expression, and couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the small boy's attempt to get the creature to follow the 'rules.'
Surion lowers his hand and the red dragonette hops off lazily sauntering off in the direction of his more hyper jaguar patterned companion leaving Surion and Camille standing/crouching where they were. "He likes you, and I don't blame him you are a nice girl" Surion addresses Camille softly, turning his attention back to the child
Senti nods his head a bunch of times as if he knew exactly what the child wanted and lifts his front paws to his maw as if to say 'my mouth is shut'
Kuyl stops beside Keeta and looks directly up at her
"That was scary when he stepped on me," Camille said quietly, frowning, willing to express herself now that Kuyl was a safe distance away. She smiled though when Surion said the dragonette liked her. It was good to be liked, but she still felt slightly betrayed, not having expected Kuyl to step on her.
Keeta raised an eyebrow as the other dragonette joined them. There wasn't more room in her lap and she wasn't about to try and accomodate him. It was bad enough already having Senti there.
Joel, always happy to make more friends waved at the small, red dragon. He smiled at Senti happy that he was ok with being quiet for story time.
Oh a lap wasnt needed though Kuyl's expression changed to one of jealousy when he looked at Senti who in turn stuck his thin tongue out
Surion nods listening to Camille "Did his tongue tickle? When he licked your nose he was giving you a little kiss" Surion grins slightly, though knowing soon Camille would likely want to join the other children, he'd seen the sign on the way in about 'story time'
Keeta frowned at the dragonettes. If she didn't know better she'd say they were acting like two small children! She sighed with relief when she saw the reader heading over to the story rug with a book in hand. Perhaps the distraction of the story would calm the smallish reptiles.
Camille noded in response to Surion's question. It had tickled. She opened her eyes wide when he mentioned the kiss however. Her expression turned to one of slightly disgusted amusement. Kissing except from mommies had started to become 'gross' to her, as it did for many children of almost school age. She wrinkled her nose slightly, but still smiled.
"I got a dragon kiss?"
The dragonettes didnt stop least not for a couple minutes. They both were sticking their tongues out at each other.
Surion smiles and nods "Yup" he glances up at the librarian passes "I think it's story time Camille" he motions to change the child focus from the dragonettes.
Keeta snapped her fingers in front of Senti and Kuyl's faces, hoping to move their focus elsewhere.
Stop it!" she hissed at them, not wanting to be seen as the responsible figure for these creatures.
Joel, however, thought it was great fun, and started immitating his two new friends. This, of course, caused Keeta to scold him as well.
Camille followed Surion's gaze and noticed the storyteller seating herself, just as Surion had indicated. She smiled at him, before going and seating herself next to her mother.
The reader smiled and chatted quietly with a few of the children and parents, while she waited for the last few minutes to roll around and allowing any stragglers to arrive.
Surion watched her get settled and then walks over to where his 2 dragonettes were seated, they'd both looked up at Keeta and were slightly glaring.... only for a second before going right back to what they had been doing. "I think it looks like you need a rescuing Keeta" he muses aloud
"Yes, please if you don't mind," she said gratefully. "I can't get them to stop. And Joel's trying to join in...." She frowned at the little boy as he once again stuck out his tongue like his new reptilian friends.
He shakes his head, typical... "Senti, Kuyl... Up" he says rather abuptly which in turn drew both dragon's attention immediately. He didnt even bother leaning down, both used their little claws to scrambled up to his shoulders.
"Thank you" Keeta mouthed, not wanting to speak aloud as the librarian had started to try to draw the children's attention for the story.
Joel had been about to protest, but much like Senti and Kuyl, his attention had been abruptly redirected by the reader's introduction of the story. From the picture, it looked like it would be about a kite. Joel liked kites.
"No problem" Surion mouthed back as Senti's long thin tail wrapped around his upper arm and the dragonette sulked looking down at the boy he'd grown fond of. "I should probably let you focus on this, as not to interupt the librarian" he continues quietly to Keeta.
"You can stay and listen to the story if you want," she responded with a whispered chuckle, watching the librarian out of the corner of her eye. So far their low conversation didn't seem to be upsetting the woman.
Joel and Camille's eyes were glued to the book, oblivious to the quiet conversation going on behind them.
"They'll want back down if I stay too long, sides I havent found m book yet.... I wound up chasing this one as is" he motions the sulking dragonette
"Alright, I'll leave you too it then. It was nice to see you. I hope you find your book," she said with a smile, giving him a small wave.
"Thanks, if ya wanna get away from kids for a bit one eve, feel free to drop by the club" he pulls a card out of his pouch and writes on the back 'no cover' with his initials and hands it to her
"Thanks," she says with a smile, grimacing slightly, as she heard a little 'eh-ehm' from the reader, who was looking over the tops of her glasses at Keeta and Surion. She gave the woman an apologetic smile, before turning back to Surion and waving her thanks.
Surion nods and stuffs his hands in his pockets as he turns and walks away heading back to where he'd come from scolding Senti the whole way through their telepathic link
Only a few more days until she moved. Her heart fluttered when she thought about it. It was the last big step before she and Rhine tied the knot.
Joel was looking through all the books about planes, cars and trucks, like many boys his age. In this regard he was the stereotypical boy and loved playing with all forms of transportation, be it a boat, car, plane or train. He wasn't exactly delicate as he plowed through the books, leaving the discarded ones on the floor.
Keeta tried to keep up with him and protect the books, but it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Joel finally settled on one and plopped down on the floor. He flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures.
Camille was more interested in the Disney princess books and the books with pictures of animals and flowers. She was more cautious, treating the books gently and putting away the ones she wasn't interested in. She finally picked a book with a picture of a girl and a cat on the cover.
Smiling, she carried it over to one of the child-sized tables and started to turn the pages. Every so often she would point to a letter and proudly proclaim it's name. Keeta had been teaching her a few letters. So far, she solidly knew about five.
Pushing his hair out of his eyes the male scanned the shelves, he wanted to get another book about running one's own business to read... The book seemed to be like... missing. Surion looks up suddenly when the weight from his one shoulder lessened suddenly, Senti had gotten bored, Kuyl was still being good but the more playful of the two... he was harder to keep still... And the small dragon was more interested in exploring, and thus he bolted across the room and around the corner... into the children's area sensing more people
Joel, having had his 'pair' of eyes on the book, and the third center eye roving the room was the first to notice the small dragon. Quickly the other two eyes joined the first and he grinned."It fly!" He giggled and pointed, kicking his legs in excitement. He didn't know what it was, but it flew like the planes he liked so much, so it was instantly cool in Joel's opinion.
Keeta looked up as soon as Joel spoke and ducked out of instinct. She let a slight cry of alarm, along with a few other mothers who had congregated in the area. Was that a dragon?!
"What the...."
Camille didn't look up until she heard the uncertainty in her mother's tone. Her eyes grew wide and she ran over to Keeta, wrapping herself around her mother's legs, using her as 'shield' against the UFO.
Surion let our a sigh of exasperation as he his hand dropped from the shelf and he muttered under his breath to the red dragonette which was still atop his opposite shoulder that had been vacated. "Least you behave Kuyl". The male turned on his heal, his black cloak billowed around him as he headed towards the direction Senti had gone 'get your butt back here' he told the misbehaving dragonette in his head.
Senti paid little to no attention to this at all... Small people!!! This was far more interesting then books... He loved playing with Natalia, maybe these little people would be just as fun!!! He lands lightly atop the lap of the giggling boy standing on his hind paws chittering like a crazy thing to the boy.
"Hihi!" Joel said to the creature, pleased it had come to him. He giggled all the more and was about to pet the miniature dragon, when Keeta approached, drawing his attention.
Keeta had made her way over surprisingly quickly with Camille wrapped around her like she was. While this little dragon made keeta nervous, she was not about to let it do something to her fearless son.
Sometimes she wished Joel was more skiddish, like Camille. It would mean he might not get himself into as many pickles. She waved he hands at the dragon, hoping it would frighten it off. Keeta didn't know if this thing was dangerous or friendly, and Joel was not about to be the test subject.
Senti looked up at the woman like she was insane or something, he made no effort whatsoever to move, he'd seen far more 'frightening' things in his lifetime. His head tips at her chittering and bouncing playfully on the lap he was atop.
"Senti where the heck did you go" Surion goes from one room to the next of the library before entering the children's area, his cloak billowed with his movements. His long dark blue and silver streaked hair was again 1/2 covering his face, only half of his face visible, the side with the lip-ring showing. His wings were not visible, but his horns, sharp teeth and tail were visible, he wore hisnormal black pants with the belts around the legs which he usually wore, plus a white tank and red silk button down shirt (which was open).
He was soon in the line of site of the group in the children's library but had stopped moving and was looking around.
"Shoo!" Keeta said, continuing to try and get the dragon off her son. She didn't want to resort to touching it, but if it didn't get off soon, she would make an attempt to physically remove it.
"Get off him! Shoo!" she repeated, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. Keeta was so absorbed with the small dragon, that she failed to notice Surion's entrance.
Joel, however, was thoroughly amused by the sight of his mother trying to remove this creature. He didn't understand that she was afraid for him, rather thinking she was just playing a game. He was having a ball!
Camille scooted away, when she realized Keeta had actually brought her *closer* to the creature. Her mommy was not managing to get rid of it either.
The small girl looked around, as if seeking help from another source, and her eyes found the man who had just entered the children's library area. At first, his imposing appearance made her afraid, but as she looked longer, she realized he looked familiar. Tentatively, she approached him (but not too close).
"Frog man?" she asked, not knowing his name, but thinking of the gift he had given her at the pool
Surion looked towards the voices he could only guess when he heard the shooing what was going on, and this theory proved correct when he saw what exactly it was the female was trying to shoo... Then he recognized the shooer and smiled turning and heading in that direction. He paused briefly hearing the child's voice "Well I suppose you could say that, but... Surion fits better" he winks and pauses near her.
Senti looks towards Surion, he still hasn't moved despite this woman's attempts and starts chittering once more. The sounds of the chittering could almost pass as a child very excited.
Camille smiled, glad this big man was the person she remembered and not someone new and scary. She noticed the other dragonette on his shoulder and pointed from it to the one seated on Joel.
"Sur-on help mommy?" she asked, not quite getting his name right, but at least she tried. Her mommy definitely needed help.
Keeta looked at Senti, exasperated. Why wouldn't it move? She was about to try and pick up the creature when she noticed it's attention drawn elsewhere. Instinctively, she turned to look at what Senti was noticing, hoping as she did so that turning away wasn't a stupid mistake. She was relieved to see Surion there. True, they hardly knew one another, but recognized him. Noticing Kuyl, she spoke.
"Is this yours?" There was hope in her voice. If it belonged to Surion, surely it couldn't be dangerous. Plus, there would be someone else to take care of dragon removal.
Joel, taking advantage of Keeta's distraction, grabbed Senti's tail, laughing at the dragonette's chittering.
"Don't worry" he says to the girl before moving past. "That it would, that it would" he was scolding the dragonette in his mind and it pouted.... least till Joel took Senti's tail at which time it did an about face looking directly to Joel and started chittering happily. "He wont hurt your son... but he definitely needs to behave that's for certain"
Surion approaches the trio debating if he should try and extract the dragonette from Joel's grasp or let the dragonette learn the hard way
Joel grinned wide at the Senti's reaction and grabbed the tail with both hands now, tugging on it. This creature was harder to pull on than that Bunkichi at home! It was more of a challenge. Joel was always interested in meeting and overcoming a challenge.
Keeta frowned at Joel, shaking her head. She couldn't believe he was encouraging the dragonette. Sighing she looked back at Surion.
"I'm glad to hear it's not dangerous. It's a miniature dragon?" she asked for the sake of getting her mind in the correct position to deal with this obstacle.
"Sorry for the rude greeting," she said, blushing slightly with shame.
"I was just worried about Joel. I didn't know what it was and whether it would hurt him. Not that it seemed to bother *him* much."
Camille followed behind Surion, now using him as the shield between herself and the chittering dragonette. Even if it wasn't dangerous like she'd hear her mommy and 'Sur-on' say, she didn't want to get too close.
A momententary look of shock registered on Senti's face at the pull on his tail, though the look didn't last long as Senti began this new game... It was much different then the games he played with Nat, in fact it was more like a play-fight or tug-of-war as his attention didn't waver.
Kuyl by now had sat up and then hopped lightly off Surion's shoulder, the red dragonette gliding to land lightly on the top of a low bookshelf where he sat and observed.
"It's a dragonette" Surion nods "It's bonded to me, it helps me preserve extra energy for times of need, sometimes it just stays in it's natural form atop my spear as it was made by Eirnae years ago." Surion tried to explain as he gave his attention to Keeta now that he'd at least located the misbehaving dragon. "And don't worry I understand, Senti seems to like kids or 'little people' as he calls them. He plays with Natalia when I'm visiting them"
Joel giggled. This was MUCH more fun than playing with the Bunkichi. He wiggled so his legs were no longer under the dragonette, trying to get better leverage as he tugged again.
Camille watched as Kuyl alighted from Surion's shoulder gripping the edge of his cloak, ready to dive underneath it if need be. She relaxed when she saw the small dragon land on a bookshelf a ways away.
"Ah, I see." Keeta wasn't sure she understood the mechanics of how they were bonded to Surion or how they preserved energy, but she got the basic idea, which is all that was needed. When she saw how Joel was tugging on Senti's tail she scolded him.
"Joel! Leave him alone! You'll hurt him. He's not a toy!" Keeta didn't really believe Joel would, or could, hurt Senti, but she didn't want him to think it was ok to just start pulling on random creatures. Probability dictated that eventually one of the creatures he pulled on would not appreciate it, and would retaliate. Joel needed to learn this lesson sooner rather than later.
Surion looks down feeling the grip on his cloak and smiles "one sec" he says to Keeta and then crouches for a moment beside Camille "His name is Kuyl" he tells her though it sounded much more like he had said 'cool' as he motioned the red dragonette calmly sitting on the shelf, he pauses and thinks for a moment "want to feel something funny?" he asks her.
Senti looked up at the sudden scolding he heard from Keeta, and in this movement Joel 'won' the battle as the dragonette lost his footing and landed squarely on his butt. It sat there a moment and blinked in surprise then toppled back onto his back chittering away once more even more excited and loudly declaring in Surion's mind it was a fun and good fight
"Cool? Something funny?" Camille repeated, saying it like she heard it, looking from Surion to the dragonette. She looks back at Surion searchingly, as if trying to decide whether or not to trust him. She recognized the fact that to 'feel' something would require participation on her part. She wasn't sure about that.
"Feel what?"
Joel disregarded his mother. He was having far too much fun! When Senti 'lost' and landed on his bottom, Joel let go of the tail because he was laughing so hard. His gleeful laughter started drawing stares from the others in the area who were waiting for story time.
Keeta looked at them sheepishly, making a vain attempt to quiet him. She hoped the librarian wouldn't feel the need to come over.
Surion gave Camille a gentle reassuring smile "Well it might tickle a little, but I promise it's not bad... What you need to do is stand very still and put your hand like this" he tells her and holds a hand out just a bit, palm side up in front of him, never once leaving the same height as the child.
Senti stopped making noise though laying still exactly where he was, his little chest heeving up
and down as if he was catching his breath. His head looks to Keeta and then back to Joel an obvious grin on his little maw
Kuyl on the other hand stopped watching the room and just watched Surion with this small person he didnt know.
Camille stands there silent for a moment, before slowly and nervously nodding her head. She carefully modeled his pose, eyes wide with anticipation of what he was going to do.
Keeta raised an eyebrow at Senti's pleased expression, as if silently reprimanding him, as she crouched down next to Joel. She put an arm around him, pulling the small boy into her lap, trying to calm him.
At first Joel fought her, not wanting to give up his fun, but when Keeta told him they would have to miss out on story time if he didn't quiet down, he soon lowered his volume. Joel really enjoyed coming to story time and wanted to see the pictures in the books. None of his pleasure diminished, however and his grin matched Senti's.
He smiles and reaches to Kuyl, hand out palm down, the dragonette stands and hops onto Surion's hand which Surion then brings back towards the pair of them, but not too fast. Surion stops his hand shortly before the child's hand and the dragonette looks at her.
Kuyl's little eyes watch her for a short time before he leans forward, first sniffing at Camille's hand before licking it, in his own way judging if this little person was a threat to Surion at all. It didn't take Kuyl long to decide the child was not a threat and he stepped one paw onto her hand and stopped, looking up at her and then licking the tip of her nose before stepping back onto Surion's hand looking slightly bored.
Senti flips over onto his paws once more when the laughter quiets, and he moves into the pair's lap sitting there with tail wrapped around himself looking up at Joel then at Keeta, that grin never leaving his face
Camille hesitated in her stance as Surion brought Kuyl closer, but the 'frog man's' promise kept her there, albeit nervously. She flinched when Kuyl licked her hand, not knowing what to expect,. After a short moment she allowed a small smile to appear on her face and a quiet giggle passed her lips. It *did* tickle!
She gasped and froze, however, when the dragonette stepped onto her hand and licked her nose. Surion hadn't told her it would do that! Her breathing grew more rapid as she tried to be brave and she barely blinked, her eyes crossing as they watched Kuyl's face come close to her own. As soon as it had started it was over, however, and Kuyl's weight was fully back on Surion's hand. Camille didn't speak, she just stood there, still frozen.
Joel couldn't have been happier to have Senti sit beside him in Keeta's lap. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around the dragonette's neck in a hug.
"Shh...we have to be qwiet," he said, as if hoping that would appease Keeta and his new friend would get to stay.
Keeta gasped and then frowned when Senti joined Joel in her lap. She had not invited the dragonette to share the space, but apparently he didn't seem to think one was needed. Sighing, she relented, especially when she saw Joel's excited expression, and couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the small boy's attempt to get the creature to follow the 'rules.'
Surion lowers his hand and the red dragonette hops off lazily sauntering off in the direction of his more hyper jaguar patterned companion leaving Surion and Camille standing/crouching where they were. "He likes you, and I don't blame him you are a nice girl" Surion addresses Camille softly, turning his attention back to the child
Senti nods his head a bunch of times as if he knew exactly what the child wanted and lifts his front paws to his maw as if to say 'my mouth is shut'
Kuyl stops beside Keeta and looks directly up at her
"That was scary when he stepped on me," Camille said quietly, frowning, willing to express herself now that Kuyl was a safe distance away. She smiled though when Surion said the dragonette liked her. It was good to be liked, but she still felt slightly betrayed, not having expected Kuyl to step on her.
Keeta raised an eyebrow as the other dragonette joined them. There wasn't more room in her lap and she wasn't about to try and accomodate him. It was bad enough already having Senti there.
Joel, always happy to make more friends waved at the small, red dragon. He smiled at Senti happy that he was ok with being quiet for story time.
Oh a lap wasnt needed though Kuyl's expression changed to one of jealousy when he looked at Senti who in turn stuck his thin tongue out
Surion nods listening to Camille "Did his tongue tickle? When he licked your nose he was giving you a little kiss" Surion grins slightly, though knowing soon Camille would likely want to join the other children, he'd seen the sign on the way in about 'story time'
Keeta frowned at the dragonettes. If she didn't know better she'd say they were acting like two small children! She sighed with relief when she saw the reader heading over to the story rug with a book in hand. Perhaps the distraction of the story would calm the smallish reptiles.
Camille noded in response to Surion's question. It had tickled. She opened her eyes wide when he mentioned the kiss however. Her expression turned to one of slightly disgusted amusement. Kissing except from mommies had started to become 'gross' to her, as it did for many children of almost school age. She wrinkled her nose slightly, but still smiled.
"I got a dragon kiss?"
The dragonettes didnt stop least not for a couple minutes. They both were sticking their tongues out at each other.
Surion smiles and nods "Yup" he glances up at the librarian passes "I think it's story time Camille" he motions to change the child focus from the dragonettes.
Keeta snapped her fingers in front of Senti and Kuyl's faces, hoping to move their focus elsewhere.
Stop it!" she hissed at them, not wanting to be seen as the responsible figure for these creatures.
Joel, however, thought it was great fun, and started immitating his two new friends. This, of course, caused Keeta to scold him as well.
Camille followed Surion's gaze and noticed the storyteller seating herself, just as Surion had indicated. She smiled at him, before going and seating herself next to her mother.
The reader smiled and chatted quietly with a few of the children and parents, while she waited for the last few minutes to roll around and allowing any stragglers to arrive.
Surion watched her get settled and then walks over to where his 2 dragonettes were seated, they'd both looked up at Keeta and were slightly glaring.... only for a second before going right back to what they had been doing. "I think it looks like you need a rescuing Keeta" he muses aloud
"Yes, please if you don't mind," she said gratefully. "I can't get them to stop. And Joel's trying to join in...." She frowned at the little boy as he once again stuck out his tongue like his new reptilian friends.
He shakes his head, typical... "Senti, Kuyl... Up" he says rather abuptly which in turn drew both dragon's attention immediately. He didnt even bother leaning down, both used their little claws to scrambled up to his shoulders.
"Thank you" Keeta mouthed, not wanting to speak aloud as the librarian had started to try to draw the children's attention for the story.
Joel had been about to protest, but much like Senti and Kuyl, his attention had been abruptly redirected by the reader's introduction of the story. From the picture, it looked like it would be about a kite. Joel liked kites.
"No problem" Surion mouthed back as Senti's long thin tail wrapped around his upper arm and the dragonette sulked looking down at the boy he'd grown fond of. "I should probably let you focus on this, as not to interupt the librarian" he continues quietly to Keeta.
"You can stay and listen to the story if you want," she responded with a whispered chuckle, watching the librarian out of the corner of her eye. So far their low conversation didn't seem to be upsetting the woman.
Joel and Camille's eyes were glued to the book, oblivious to the quiet conversation going on behind them.
"They'll want back down if I stay too long, sides I havent found m book yet.... I wound up chasing this one as is" he motions the sulking dragonette
"Alright, I'll leave you too it then. It was nice to see you. I hope you find your book," she said with a smile, giving him a small wave.
"Thanks, if ya wanna get away from kids for a bit one eve, feel free to drop by the club" he pulls a card out of his pouch and writes on the back 'no cover' with his initials and hands it to her
"Thanks," she says with a smile, grimacing slightly, as she heard a little 'eh-ehm' from the reader, who was looking over the tops of her glasses at Keeta and Surion. She gave the woman an apologetic smile, before turning back to Surion and waving her thanks.
Surion nods and stuffs his hands in his pockets as he turns and walks away heading back to where he'd come from scolding Senti the whole way through their telepathic link
~ 1 ~
