Breath of Fresh Air

"Easy! Easy. It was a small fire. No one got hurt," Noah repeated gently, smiling. "One of the parts broke. We put the fire out fast enough, but then we had to do the machine's job by hand until it got fixed. Father and I were stitching saddles for hours."

Mr. Harn nodded. "I'm very glad Noah was there to help for that. I thought for certain his fingers were going to fall off, with how fast he was sewing," he teased. "And I hope things going the same for you means things are going well, Lily."

"Oh. Father, that reminds me - can Lily and Pumpkin and I come visit some time?" Noah asked. "And maybe you could come to Lower Floaten too and meet my dragon, Chaital!"

"I'd love to," Mr. Harn said gently. "When will you all be coming up, do you know?"
 
Lily frowned at the idea of a 'small' fire, since any fire seemed dangerous enough, but did finally breathe a little sigh of relief at knowing no one had gotten hurt. Productivity loss was a concern, she was sure, but couldn't fathom just how much a loss of a day's work could mean for someone with a relatively lucrative business. Money like that wasn't something she would probably ever see.

When there was no date to give to Mr. Harn, she gave a little wince. "Ah, I'm sorry, that's my fault. I've got to ask someone to take one of my work days so I can come, but I cant ask him until tomorrow so we don't know for sure yet. The day after tomorrow, at the earliest." Greyson had a fast dragon, but probably not fast enough to take over her route last minute if he was already working. She hoped Noah's father didn't mind waiting for her schedule to clear.

"I'm sure Chaital would love to meet you!" She added, more cheerfully. "She's been taking care of Pumpkin for a little while, we think, so they're good friends!" And if Mr. Harn came down to Lower Floaten, it was literally the only way he would ever meet Jasper. She just hoped them meeting would end up being a good idea. Mr. Harn seemed like a very nice person, not as stuck up as Jasper always said people from Upper Floaten were, so maybe it wouldn't end in disaster.
 
"Oh, it's quite all right, my dear," Mr. Harn said gently. "There's no rush. I just want to make sure I'm prepared for your arrival, is all. You or Noah can let me know when you'll be coming up." He smiled and let out a long, content sigh. "And I'm already looking forward to visiting Lower Floaten, as well. Imagine. Noah's a dragon rider. Your mother would be so proud, Noah."

Noah smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you, father," he murmured. "I - I hope she is."

After a pause, Mr. Harn added, "Well, it's been wonderful talking to you all! And I'm very glad Noah's safe. Keep in touch, lad."

"You, too!" Noah replied, and he smiled and hung up the phone.

Then he turned towards Lily and cleared his throat. ". . . Think I should tell Jasper about the fire?"
 
"You don't have to do anything special," Lily insisted, but hesitantly, not wanting him to be irritated with her for refusing any sort of hospitality he tried to extend. "We'll let you know as soon as possible!"

When Noah hung up, she considered for a moment and decided not to insist that his mother would absolutely be proud of him. That maybe wasn't her place yet, so instead she just gave him a little smile. "Maybe we just say the machine broke, instead of caught on fire?" She didn't think Jasper would get retroactively worried about danger that had passed already, but it was better safe than sorry.
 
Mr. Harn only chuckled. "I can't promise anything. But take all the time you need. There's no rush. And have a wonderful night!"

Noah giggled and nodded. "I like the sound of that. Thanks." He smiled and reached out to pat Lily's shoulder. "I think you're gonna like my father. He's a lot like me! But he's much more of a homebody than I am. Oh, and that reminds me - do you have any questions about supper Floaten I can answer for you ahead of time? That way you'll be more familiar with the place when we do go up."

There were some things he wanted to tell her about, of course. Which neighbors and alleyways to avoid. What sort of small talk to use, if she wanted to chat with anyone she met. But there wasn't much to tell her, and he was sure she had more questions that he hadn't thought about.
 
Lily smiled at the pat he gave her, like being congratulated for a job well done. "I'm sure I will! That just means we'll have to work hard on getting him to visit here so he can spend time with Chaital!" It would be important to the dragon, she was sure, to be able to meet Noah's family, and one of Pumpkin's previous caretakers. She was sure Infernus would like to know who it was she was going to see while they were gone, too.

When Noah asked if she had questions she did stop to think for a moment, but eventually just shook her head with a little smile and a dismissive wave of her hand. "That's all right. I'm sure I'll stand out as a culture-shocked tourist no matter what I ask now. And besides!" She added, slinging an arm around Noah's shoulders and giving him a big grin. "I'll have you with me anyway! As Jasper would say, I'm your problem now."
 
Noah's eyes lit up in delight, and he returned the motion and put his arm around Lily's shoulder as well. "Best problem I've ever had in my life! I hope I never get rid of ya," he said with a laugh. He tossed his head towards the couch, and then finally let go and walked over. ". . . But seriously, there are a few things you should know before you go up there. Well, actually - the main thing is just stay close to me. And if for some reason you get separated from me, go straight to the factory and tell them you have a meeting with the Harns. I'll point out the factory building to you. Kinda hard to miss," he added with a sheepish smile.

Pumpkin gave the pipeline phone a lick, as though saying goodbye to Mr. Harn, and then headed over to the couch to paw at Lily's leg to be held again.
 
Lily laughed along with Noah's returned embrace, following him over to the couch to sit down. "Are your crime rates worse than I think?" She asked, a bit confused by the insistence she stay at his side. She didn't have any plans to not be, but it seemed strange to emphasize it. She supposed she wouldn't be as safe without Infernus constantly hovering over her shoulder, and she knew she was probably a little too used to that.

"Come here, precious baby," she cooed, picking Pumpkin up and getting him situated in her arms with a little nuzzle before giving Noah her attention again. "I'm sure it'll be okay, Noah. Promise not to wander off on my own." She was resourceful enough to get by in her own, but she did know it would probably be harder to get help, topside where no one knew her and she didn't know where anything was, if they were to be seperated. She didn't want to judge prematurely, but she had a feeling people were not so much concerned about community in Upper Floaten as the people she spent time with down below.
 
". . . Yeah, actually," Noah murmured, his voice growing a bit more serious. "We've got a lot of problems with gangs up there. Violent ones. If you wander off in the wrong place, it's curtains." He took a breath and gave Lily a small smile. "I know you're wise enough to handle yourself. It's just easier to stay protected with two people looking out for each other instead of one."

He leaned back on the couch, patting Pumpkin's head absently for a moment. "I told Jasper earlier about one of the experiences I had with a gang run in. I didn't realize until I fell down here how much safer Lower Floaten actually feels. And now that I do know, I guess I'm getting a little nervous about bringing anybody up with me," he admitted softly. "Especially one of my best friends."
 
Lily nodded along, being serious because Noah seemed to actually be worried about her and she didn't want him to think she didn't care. Upper Floaten was supposed to be safer than Lower, she thought, but it seemed like it was just a different kind of dangerous.

"Oh," she murmured softly at the admission, a sort of 'aww' buried in her tone, and freed one of her hands to take one of his and give it a squeeze. "I'm so glad we're friends too, Noah." She smiled for him, touched that he saw her as one of his best friends so quickly, and made a thoughtful sound. "I promise I'll be real careful, and we'll stick together the whole time." And she might bring a weapon with her. Just in case.
 
Noah met her eyes and smiled warmly. "I'm glad we're friends, too," he agreed. "And I'm glad I fell out of Upper Floaten that day."

"Finished mah letter," Mr. Jenkins announced. He ambled in and held it out to Lily. "Lily, would ya do the honors of deliverin' it to Mr. Harn?"

"What's in the letter?" Noah asked, tilting his head.

". . . An apology. And an invitation," Mr. Jenkins replied. "Along with some other things. Ah hope he reads it."

Noah smiled and stood up, walking over to give his grandfather a hug. "I'll make sure he does," he promised. "Thanks, Grandpa."

Mr. Jenkins smiled. "Yer welcome, Noah. Yer welcome."
 
Lily couldn't help a soft laugh at the idea of being glad about falling down so far, but she knew what he meant and just squeezed his hand and let him go. When Mr. Jenkins came to give her the envelope, she gave a nod and held it close to her chest.

"Of course!" She said immediately, determined and serious. "I'll make sure it gets to him safe!" And she couldn't peek inside. Mail carrier's honor.

She tried not to go 'aw' out loud when they hugged, and was rescued from holding it in when they heard the front door open and a small, two-dragon stampede came running in to find them. Lily laughed as Nobu went immediately to her in order to get to Pumpkin, and Naga crept more cautiously to Mr. Jenkin's feet to make sure he didnt have any treats.

"By some miracle, there's no new teeth marks anywhere out there," Jasper said as he walked in, shaking his head at the two of their antics. "What'd I miss while I was gone?"
 
Pumpkin squeaked and flew out of Lily's arms, landing near Nobu. He immediately sank into a play bow stance and wagged his tail to invite the dragon to roughhouse and play fight.

Mr. Jenkins glanced down and smiled. "Well, hey, lass!" He knelt down carefully, offering his hand for her to sniff. "Ya want a pet, maybe?"

"Careful. She's bitey," Noah warned gently.

". . . Ah," Mr. Jenkins said, and he stood up and withdrew his hand again. "Right." He turned towards Jasper and smiled. "So how're things out there, eh, Jasper?"

Noah smiled. "You didn't miss much. I called my father, Lily and Pumpkin and I are planning to visit him at some point soon, and also my father said I could tell you all about the machine that broke a few days ago. It's fine now, though."
 
Nobu dropped down with a happy little squawk and bounded off after Pumpkin to run circles around anything I'm the house, chasing and being chased. Jasper shook his head at them and reached down to pick Naga up into his arms, despite the fact that she had settled rather peacefully at Mr. Jenkin's feet.

"Yeah, sorry," he murmured, holding her around the stomach with both arms and sighing with a roll of his eyes. He would have warned the older man if Noah hadn't beaten him to it. "If you give 'er something to chew on, she's fine, and she just ate so she's probably good for now, but shes like a baby. She explores everything by sticking it in her mouth." She was a bitey baby, and usually kept busy by chewing on old bones or pieces of metal or leather at the workshop.

"She likes to chew on Jasper's hair," Lily informed with a big grin. "She sits on his back while he's working and licks him like a baby." And he was usually so busy and so used to it he didn't bother to swat her away. It made his hair stick up in ways that made Lily smile even after seeing it so many times.

"Yeah, yeah, she's my troublemaker." And usually didn't come inside, but he knew they were getting anxious about him being behind doors they weren't allowed to pass for so long. "I can send her back out if you want me to." He didn't want her damaging any of Mr. Jenkin's furniture.
 
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Noah was somewhat relieved Jasper didn't ask any questions about the broken machine; it seemed like he wasn't going to worry about it. Then he giggled and watched the boy scoop up the young dragon. "She might be bitey. But she's damn cute, though."

"I tend to agree with ya," Mr. Jenkins replied with a warm smile. "Yer dragons are always welcome in here. Only reason Ol' Boulder and the others ain't in here is cuz they're too big to fit through the door. An' speakin' of Ol' Boulder . . . anyone seen him? He ought to be back by now."

Noah blinked and glanced out a nearby window. "No, I haven't. Do you think we should go look for him?"

"Well, it's a warm night. Could be he's still in the mud hole," Mr. Jenkins said. "Let's give 'im another hour or two an' see."
 
Jasper shook his head a little at the allowance, not wanting to let Naga run completely free - it wasn't as if Nobu didn't ever cause trouble or break things, but he was far less destructive than she was. "I'll do my best to keep an eye on her, still. . ."

Lily sat up more, robbed of her cuddle buddy by the small dragons' frankly adorable desire to play, and put her hands on the couch to either side of her legs like she was about to get up. "Do you want us to go look for him?" She was sure Boulder was fine, being rather large and very familiar with where he lived, but if it made Mr. Jenkin's feel better she would run out in a heartbeat.
 
"If'n ya want to," Mr. Jenkins said casually, not too worried about Boulder yet. "I'm sure he'll be - ah, look at that, here he comes. An' he's got somethin' with him."

Noah blinked and glanced out the window, tilting his head. ". . . He does. What is that?" he asked in surprise.

Boulder ambled towards the house at a slow, leisurely walk, like always. He carried what looked like a large green chunk of crystal in his mouth. It was fairly dark.

If any of the group recognized it, they'd know it used to be part of the large green crystal within Upper Floaten's structure that helped power the city and keep it afloat. Normally, the crystal was used as a conductor for electricity generated from a steam machine. But lately it was being overloaded, and bits and pieces of the crystal were starting to crack and break off.
 
Jasper thought Lily was ready to go sprinting out, but just as he and Mr. Jenkins had expected, the large dragon was fine. As usual, he came back all on his own, although this time with some sort of prize.

"What'd he get?" Lily asked, curious, and got up to go and see Boulder with the others.

Jasper, after setting Naga down outside, was the first to get close. His eyes were wide, and when he reached out a hand as if to touch it he could just barely feel the residual energy still leaking off of it. "Papa J . . . is that what I think it is?" It couldn't be. Right? This was just some rock Boulder dug up in the fields, wasn't it?
 
The group gathered around, and Chaital, not wanting to miss out, ambled over to sniff at the crystal shard and give it a lick. She grimaced and huffed, swishing her tail before settling in to lick Noah's hair instead.

Mr. Jenkins rubbed his chin. "It does seem familiar. But to be honest with ya, I haven't the slightest idea what it - "

Boulder gently nudged the crystal against him to offer it.

Then Mr. Jenkins blinked, taking the piece gently and holding it carefully. "Ohhh. Now I remember. This here's a chunk of a power crystal. A huge, big ol' crystal that channels energy and such. Pieces crack off now and again. Ain't never seen one this big, though . . ."

"A power crystal?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is it a special kind of crystal?"

"Nah. Just big," Mr. Jenkins said with a chuckle. "Nice find there, Boulder! Maybe we can bring it to someone who makes jewelry an' earn a few extra credits, eh?"
 
Jasper was frowning still with a hand to his chin, expression twisted in the way Lily knew meant something was bouncing around in his head that he was trying to figure out. It was best to let him sort through it.

"Where'd he find this one, you think?" She asked Mr. Jenkins instead, coming closer to put a hand to the crystal and frowning at the strange way it felt. Almost alive. "Will it sell for a good price, even though it's all beat up?" It was all used up, she thought, though she'd never seen a power crystal chip off pieces before. She'd heard of them, but it wasn't like she'd ever had enough money to get her hands on one.

"Thats just a piece." Jasper said, thoughtful still but starting to sound, to Lily, like he was worried. "Where even has one big enough for a broken piece to be that big?"
 
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