Breath of Fresh Air

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"Oh, she could follow me in the elevator no problem," Noah insisted. "It's clear. She'll be able to see me. And I'm pretty sure she'll understand the concept of up okay," he added with a chuckle.

Infernus soon made his landing, and Mr. Harn had nearly the exact expression on his face as Noah had when he'd first seen the dragon. "My. What a gorgeous dragon," he breathed. He smiled and glanced to Lily. "May I offer him my hand to sniff?"

Only once he'd gotten permission did he step forward, holding out his hand and blinking slowly at the dragon. "Hello, sir. Pleased to meet you. My name's Axle Harn."

He had no idea Chaital was creeping up behind him, intent on licking his hair.
 
Lily was absolutely beaming with pride, a big smile on her face at Axle's expression, but made sure to look over Infernus' body language before she agreed. She knew Infernus was good with most people, having grown used to them after being at the Dragonry for so long, it was just good form to double check before letting anyone too near. If he was ever uncomfortable for any reason, she wouldn't hesitate to shoo someone away.

"Go ahead," she said with a grin, patting Infernus' shoulder and resting her hand there so he would knew where she was. "Fern's pretty friendly."

Infernus was calm, taking in Axle's scent before giving his hand a gentle nudge with the end of his muzzle to show acceptance. He almost pulled away, afterwards, but after spotting Chaital over Axle's shoulder instead pressed past the man's wrist to his sleeve as if wanting to inspect, keeping his attention until she was in position to groom him like she wanted to.
 
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Axle chuckled and gently stroked Infernus' muzzle, delighted when the dragon reached for his sleeve to ask for more pets. "Oh, aren't you a gentleman," he murmured.

Noah stifled a laugh and tried not to give away Chaital's position.

A few moments later, Chaital pounced and licked Axle's hair, startling the man into jumping.

"Oh! What was - ?" He turned around and laughed when he spotted Chaital licking his hair again. "Oh, I see. You've certainly given me a spook, dear. But thank you for cleaning my hair."

Noah laughed and threw an arm around Lily so he wouldn't fall over. "You should've seen your face, father! I thought you were going to jump straight into the air!"

Pumpkin landed soon after, perching delicately on Lily's shoulder and rubbing his face against her cheek with a happy rumble.
 
Lily felt a little bad for taking part in the scare by staying quiet and not warning him, but couldn't help melting into giggles with Noah after his father jumped. He wasn't actually afraid, at least, so she couldn't feel too bad about it. Even Infernus gave a few amused little chuffs at them.

When Pumpkin landed on her shoulder she reached up to give him pets and turned her head enough to kiss his muzzle. "Thank you, Pumpkin! You brought everyone home! Now we're only missin' Boulder!"

Jasper emerged from the house to the sound of their laughter, less because he was finished eating and more because he knew Infernus showing up meant his own monsters would probably follow soon after. They were right on Pumpkin's tail, Nobu coming in for a landing near all the ruckus to figure out what was going on. He ran immediately to say hello to Lily, then Noah, and then hurried over to inspect the newcomer with eager interest. Naga, having spotted Jasper in the doorway, flew down to him and stood up on her back legs to touch his leg with both forepaws and whine.

Sighing softly, Jasper stepped further out and knelt down to offer his arm, letting her sniff around it so she knew where he was hurt. "I'm all right, little one," he murmured softly, giving the base of her horns a rub with his other hand to reassure her. "It's okay. Smells bad, hm?"

She made a disgruntled sound and tried awkwardly to climb up onto his knee, wanting to be gentle with him but also clearly desperate to get closer. With a fond, resigned little huff, Jasper scooped her into his arms and got to his feet, holding her despite it straining bruised muscles a little. As much of a little demon as she could be, she was never happy when he was hurt, and wouldn't leave him alone until she was satisfied that he was okay.

Lily only smiled and stayed with Nobu since Jasper was busy, watching him sniff around Axle's shins before he stepped back and made a small, insistent little squawk that prompted her to laugh. "You're too high up, I think. He wants to say hello."
 
"Aw, we ain't missin' him. He's out on his walk. He'll be back later," Mr. Jenkins told the group.

Noah barely had a chance to give Nobu a light ruffle on the head before the little dragon made a bee line straight for his father. "Watch out, Father! Nobu's on his way for cuddles."

When Lily explained what was going on, Axle chuckled and knelt carefully in the grass. "I'm too high up? How's this, then? C'mere, little fellow," he murmured, stretching a hand out for Nobu to sniff.

Noah chuckled and patted Chaital's neck, watching his father with sparkling eyes. The dinner couldn't have possibly gone any better. And even Jasper looked slightly more at ease. In some ways, Noah was jealous; his father had gotten through to Jasper in less than a few hours; it had taken Noah days.
 
Lily smiled at Mr. Jenkins, giving him a little shrug. "But he's gonna miss out on the pear party! We'll have to save his somewhere to give to him later."

Nobu gave an excited little wiggle when Axle knelt down and pressed up against his knee and hands, making pleased little rumbles when he got the pets he wanted and hardly taking any time to get the man's scent at all. Infernus was fine with him, after all, and so were all the other humans he liked, so he was sure it was fine. New friends meant more hands to be petted by.

Infernus sat down but was still watching closely, keeping an eye on the nearest of his small babies. Axle seemed like a good enough person, but he was still new, and Nobu wasn't very wary when there were others to watch over him.

"Should we get their treats now?" Lily wondered aloud. "We've gotta cut up Nobu's, and probably Pumpkin's. Mr. Harn, I bet if you gave Naga hers she'd warm up to you pretty quick!" She was distracted by Jasper for now, but she was a sucker for anything new to chew on.
 
Mr. Jenkins smiled. "I'm sure he'd appreciate us savin' him some. Thanks, Lily."

Axle beamed and gently ran his hands down Nobu's spines and back. "They're now. What a sweetheart you are," he murmured softly. "I imagine you get quite spoiled, eh, being so cuddly and small?"

Noah smiled and lay against Chaital's spines, resting his head on one arm. "He sure does. He was the first dragon I ever met in Lower Floaten. He even helped Jasper keep me company when I was resting up. He's a really good boy."

"Speakin' of really good boys - who wants to come on inside an' help Axle an' I slice up some pears fer the dragons?" Mr. Jenkins offered, happily making his way back into the house.
 
"He's a spoiled baby, that's what he is," Jasper piped up from near the house. "Just 'cause he's small and round, he thinks he gets all the cuddles and treats he wants, whenever he wants."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, and the way he was cradling Naga despite knowing how heavy she was. "You say that like you're not the one who gives it to him whenever he wants."

". . . Shut up."

She only laughed and turned to take Infernus by the muzzle and look him in the eyes. "I'll bring you a treat in a minute, okay, Fern? You sit tight and be good." She gave him a kiss, then hurried off after Jasper and Mr. Jenkins into the house. "Come on, guys, the sooner we slice stuff, the sooner we can give out treats!" She made extra sure to set aside a pear for Boulder where no one else would take it.
 
Axle chuckled. "You know, there's a difference between spoiled rotten and very well cared loved," he pointed out gently as he went over to a cutting board. "I imagine your dragons are all the latter. They seem very well behaved to me, as dragons go." He picked up a pear and tilted it to examine it. "How big does each dragon like their pear pieces?"

Noah poked his head in through a window, still sitting atop Chaital's neck. "I think the big dragons could probably get a whole pear, or get 'em cut in half!"

Chaital rumbled in agreement. She tried to squish her face against the window, nearly pushing Noah off in the process, who laughed and pushed back to stay on. "Chaital! Hey! I'm still up here!"

Mr. Jenkins smiled and pulled out a fruit knife. "How about yer little ones, Jasper? How big should we cut their pears, eh?"
 
They were strangely soft words coming from someone Jasper had expected to hate, and he really wasn't sure what to do with the contrast. He settled for not saying much of anything, just focusing on Naga and avoiding getting butted with her horns as she tried to look around from in his arms.

"Fern can have his cut in half, so it feels like he gets two," Lily said, then laughed at Chaital and wandered closer to the window to wave hello. "Don't squash Noah! He's too soft and smooshable!"

"Nobu can have pretty big chunks," Jasper said with a little shrug, watching the way the smaller dragon hovered at Axle's feet like he knew he was getting something. "If he doesn't trip you, that is," he added with a roll of his eyes, and shooed Nobu gently away with a foot. "Naga'll take hers whole. She's part rodent and likes to gnaw on things too big for her mouth."

Lily turned a little to try and see Pumpkin better on her shoulder. "What d'ya say, baby Pumpkin? You want little bite size pieces?"
 
Axle nodded and smiled, carefully slicing the pears as directed. He also made sure not to move his feet on Jasper's advice about tripping on Nobu.

"I'm what?" Noah asked, laughing and blushing slightly. For a very brief moment, he'd thought Lily had said smoochable. But he quickly figured out what she meant and laughed again. "Yeah, Chaital! Don't squish me!"

Chaital chuffed and licked his cheek. Then she smiled mischievously and pretended she was going to smush him against the window.

Noah rolled off and fell into the grass with a thud, still laughing. "Chaital!"

The dragon only huffed in a laughing sort of way and went back to looking through the window.

Pumpkin, meanwhile, squeaked and flapped his wings, chomping the air playfully as though to agree that yes, he did want smaller pieces. And once the pears had been mostly sliced, he flew over to the counter and skidded across its surface. He lifted one paw towards the pears and tried to sneak a slice with his claws.
 
"People are made from soft, smooshable stuff!" Lily insisted, hands propped on her hips. "They get stepped on, they go splat."

Jasper made a dubious face at her and shifted slightly away, as if the next person to go splat would be him. "You're very peppy for someone talking about gory death."

She only gave an expansive shrug, expression deadpan. "It's part of my charm - Ah! Chaital!" She sprung off with a laugh, almost missing the way Pumpkin flew away from her, and reached a hand through the window as if she could save Noah from his fate. "What a troublemaker you've become!"

"Hey, no stealing," Jasper scolded lightly, stepping over to shoo Pumpkin off though he didn't have any hands. "You wait and have your snack with everybody else."

Nobu, eager but obedient, had gotten out from behind Axle's legs and stood beside him with one paw on the man's shoe, as if to let Axle know where he was. Being relatively small and used to a master who got very distracted when working, he had gotten into the habit of doing similar things to Jasper at the workshop. As much as he wanted the sweet snack he could already smell, he was a good boy and would wait to be given what was his.
 
Noah's head popped up from below the window a few moments later; he'd gotten some blades of grass stuck in his hair. "It's okay! I lived."

"I know he's not in danger because he's laughing," Axle said, grinning and not even looking up from setting the pear slices into different bowls. "He doesn't laugh when he's in danger."

Pumpkin made a soft chirping noise, like he was laughing, and scrambled away again, retreating to the safety of Lily's shoulder.

Eventually Axle noticed a soft paw against his ankle, and he smiled and knelt down. "Well, now. Looks who's so very polite. Jasper? May I give Nobu the first pear?" he asked, glancing up at Jasper for approval. Nobu was Jasper's dragon, after all, and if there was a pecking order he didn't want to upset it.

"Oh! Can I throw some pears for Naga to catch?" Noah added, leaning in on the edge of the window.
 
Lily laughed a little at Noah's reappearance, just reaching out to brush a bit of grass out of his hair when they both stood close enough to their respective sides of the window to allow it. "A little dirt never hurt anyone." She assured with a smile, and only shifted away when Pumpkin came back to her shoulder again. "Causin' trouble, little man? Jasper's too used to little dragons to fall for your antics, you know."

Jasper, distracted by resisting the urge to blow a raspberry at a dragon, blinked back to attention when spoken to and gave a little shrug in response. "That's fine. Nobu knows how not to take fingers with his snacks. We should probably take it outside, though, so nobody makes a mess on the floor." Naga was going to get jealous if she saw Nobu getting treats, and would insist on getting her own immediately.

Glancing over at Noah, Jasper gave a little shake of his head. "Maybe if Pumpkin doesn't eat one or two of his pieces? She'll want to chomp on the whole one, so she might not want to chase anything." And he didn't know how long it would be before she felt okay leaving his side. "Come on, Lily, let's go meet the others outside."

Eager to give all the dragons their treats, she needed no further convincing to hurry back out to where Noah, Chaital, and Infernus were waiting.
 
Pumpkin stuck his tongue out and made a disappointed huff, swishing his tail. But he couldn't resist licking Lily's cheek and fluttering his wings. She was far too sweet to him for him to be upset for long.

Axle nodded again and carried the finished pears out in bowls, balancing them in a careful stack. Once outside, he gave a few bowls to Noah and some to Lily. The last bowl he gave to Jasper. "Here, some for Naga. Something tells me she's not going to leave your side any time soon," he added with a wink.

Noah glanced up to Chaital and smiled, holding out a pear in his hand. "Here, Chaital. You hungry?" he asked with a grin.

Chaital rumbled. She seemed to understand this was a more sensitive situation, and she very carefully lowered her face to lick up the pear. Then she chewed it gently in her mouth and closed her eyes blissfully.

"Good, huh?" Noah asked with a grin.

Axle, meanwhile, carefully sat down on the grass. "Jasper, let me know when I should give Nobu his treats. He's waiting so very patiently."
 
Lily giggled at the dragon kisses as she walked outside and reached up to give Pumpkin's head a rub. "Don't worry, you'll get yours soon!"

Jasper blinked at the bowl held out to him and took a second to set Naga on the ground so he could accept it. He looked at it for a long moment, then finally held out a whole pear to Axle. "Here. Hold it by the stem and give her the fat end, so she can't get to your hand. Nobu will take his from you no problem."

Noah wanted everyone to get along, and Axle clearly wanted the dragons to like him. Naga could take her pear and then tuck herself between his feet to gnaw on it, and thus associate Axle with treats. Nobu already did, even though he hadn't gotten any yet, beginning to wiggle a bit and shift from one foot to the other in his excitement. He hadn't gone for the now much lower bowl yet, but it wouldn't be very long before he tried it on his own, if his treats weren't handed to him.

Lily gave Pumpkin a couple pieces before walking over to Infernus to give him his own pear, one half at a time, and grinned widely at the way he rumbled after. "Good stuff, huh, Fern?" She looked over at Noah even as she held another piece up for Pumpkin to take. "Chaital likes hers too?" She was sure if the others did that Chaital would too, but some dragons were pickier than others.
 
Mr. Harn blinked in surprise. Then he smiled and gently took the pear. "Thanks, kiddo." He held the pair out to Naga, clicking his tongue softly. "Naga, would you like a pear, sweetheart?" Once she'd taken hers, he beamed and nodded. Then he picked out slices from the bowl and offered them flat on his hands, one at a time, to Nobu. "Thank you for your patience, sir. Here are yours."

Noah giggled, his eyes squinting a bit from how much he was smiling. "She does! I don't know if she's had these before, but look at that face. She loves them."

Chaital licked her lips when at last the pear was gone. Then she began sniffing around Noah and the group, searching hopefully for seconds.

"Sorry, Chaital. Just one for now," Noah told her. He paused and glanced to Lily. "Unless - actually, how many can we give the bigger dragons?"

Pumpkin whined and gently nudged Lily's cheek with his muzzle. His paws made little tapping motions on her shoulder as he waited impatiently for the delicacy.
 
Jasper didn't take well to being called 'kiddo' but it wasn't like he'd never gotten it before. Naga was cautious at first, stepping away from him slowly and sticking her neck out until she realized what exactly it was they were getting and chomped her teeth into the meat of the pear with no warning to yank it away. She scuttled back to wind around Jasper's legs and settled laying in between his feet where no one could get her treat, holding it with both front paws and gnawing the fatter end until she got pieces off she could chew on her own without choking. By the time she was done, her muzzle and paws would be covered in fruit juice.

"Little monster," Jasper murmured with a fond little smile, shaking his head and standing still so she would feel safe in keeping her treat to herself.

Nobu gave an excited little mrr and carefully licked up each piece he was given, chomping just as messily as any creature without lips could be expected to chew but always sure not to accidentally bite Axle's fingers. After a few pieces he did his best to climb into the man's lap to have his snack while also being held.

"Mmm, I don't think they'll get sick," Lily said with a shrug. "I know Fern could probably eat a few on his own without being bothered, but they did just eat dinner so I don't know how much everyone will want anyway. I set Boulder's aside in the house for when he gets home." Infernus wasn't generally too ravenous, so he took treats when he could get them and didn't complain much when he couldn't. "Oh - sorry, sorry." She laughed softly when Pumpkin tried to get her attention and held up a few more pieces for him to eat. "There ya go, buddy. I'll be faster, promise."
 
Noah picked up on the nickname, too, and he beamed. Mr. Harn often called him kiddo, and it was nice to know his father was already accepting Jasper as one of the family - not that he'd had any doubts about it. His attention finally drew back to Lily. "Okay, well the way Chaital's sniffing, I feel like I owe her at least one more." He picked one from the bowl and held it out to her. "Here you go!"

Chaital licked his hair first as a thank you. Then she gingerly took the pair. This one she chewed slower, savoring the sweet flavor.

Mr. Harn stared down at Nobu with a soft expression. He couldn't resist lightly stroking the dragon while he ate his pear slices, and he hummed softly to him. "That's good stuff, huh?" he murmured gently.

Pumpkin squeaked happily and nibbled each slice out of Lily's fingers, careful not to nip her on accident. Then he settled down again and lay calmly on her shoulder.
 
Nobu made pleased little grumbles as he ate his snack, tail flopping loosely here and there as he settled himself in Axle's lap. Eventually, before he'd eaten a whole pear's worth of pieces, he stopped taking them and just settled in for pets instead, his belly full.

"I told you," Jasper said with a little shrug, watching as Nobu reclined in Axle's lap just as quickly as he'd warmed up to Noah at their first meeting, "he's a spoiled brat. If he gets too heavy, I can grab him." They were his babies, but they were still dragons, and could still whack people with their horns hard enough to hurt when they weren't paying attention, or put all their weight in the wrong places. Naga was still working on her pear, enjoying her snack that doubled as a chew toy, but when she was done he would likely toss the rest to Infernus.

"Ooh, looks like somebody's joining the pear club," Lily said with a little laugh, watching Chaital's face even as she gave Pumpkin pieces to eat. "Pretty good, huh, Chaital? The good ones are nice and juicy, and they're a little different from apples." It was a nice change, when they could manage to get their hands on some. "Thanks a bunch of letting us have some." She couldn't always get them treats, because of money or because of availability, so it was always nice to have something to give them.
 
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