Here Be Dragons

"Yeah, but still. I ought to remember which arm is hurt so I stop messing with it, huh?" Triston asked with a grin. He knelt down and stretched out a hand to a nearby Gronkle, smiling when the dragon gently rubbed against it. He chuckled and glanced up at Lambi. "These guys really are cute. With any luck, we won't have to move them."

Then he glances over to Tide, who's surrounded by the heavy dragons, and he giggles. "Er - but on the off chance we did need to move them, have any tricks for that? Tide and I haven't met many Gronkles."
 
Lambi smiled, trying to make sure the other knew he wasn't hurt. "It's ok, I'll just make sure I stand on the other side so you won't accidentally touch, it'll heal in a few days I'm sure," he smiled, unable not to smile at Triston. Seeing a gronkle take a liking to him when he moved to pet him. "They're really friendly, I'm hoping they won't need to be moved but I would feel better if they weren't so close to the factory." Luna moved to sit down, watching tide as he was trapped. A younger gronkle moved over and started playing with the light fury's tail when she moved it. "Your best bet is food to be honest, they're very food motivated, and if you can get Smokey going most if not all will follow him," he glanced around trying to see if he saw any other dragons,"There's a few caves and nests around we can check, most dragons will be nearby. You should be careful when we walk, in case there's a low branch..."
 
Tide finally snorted and laid his head down in defeat, but he couldn't help and relax a little when one of the Gronkles kneaded his shoulder. He rumbled happily and closed his eyes.

And Triston burst out laughing. "Look at that big softie," he murmured, gently nudging Lambi's arm that wasn't hurt. "He acts pretty tough, but he sure likes his cuddles." He watched his dragon relax for a moment, and then took a breath and glanced back at Lambi, his eyes glittering. "I'll . . . watch out for branches. Thanks. We're just checking to make sure all the dragons here are okay, right?"
 
Luna chirped a bit, clearing find Tide's position funny. She laid down since they were going to be there awhile. Plus she knew Lambi would be fine on his own with Triston. Lambi was chuckling at the site in front of him. "He looks like a cuddle lover, he can't resist it," he looked back at Triston, smiling before blushing and moving to turn around. "Y-yeah we are just checking no one is hurt after that storm, shouldn't take too long. We can walk in a loop and be back here in no time!" he kept close to Triston as they walked. Since meeting the other he felt drawn to him in a way but especially right now as his head was hurt. Checking a few nests as they walked down the path he smiled. "I'm glad everyone is OK so far, though not surprising, they tend to go into cover when storm hit."
 
Triston was loathe to admit it, but he found himself remembering being snuggled up against Lambi, and he realized he was a cuddle lover, too. He blushed slightly and walked beside Lambi, occasionally bumping into his arm or blushing softly. He tried his best to focus on searching for dragons.

But for once in his life, he was distracted by something else. "So, um, what kinds of things do you do when you're not taking care of dragons?" he asked at last. "I - I mean yeah that's most of the day, but what about your free time?"

Tide opened one eye, watching the pair with interest. His fins perked forward and he chirped at Luna to take a look as well.
 
Lambi hadn't really had anyone else to talk to other than his mom and dragons. He found himself really happy he met Triston, he was always smiling around the other. Feeling the other bump his arm a little his cheeks flushed pink and they kept walking, checking nests as they went. As they finished checking one he heard Triston's question. The way he stumbled over his words made Lambi laugh, it was cute. "My free time? Ah well...hm, I like to draw or paint dragons or the scenery, sometimes Luna and I will just fly through the skies. It's...relaxing, what do you do for fun?" Lambi's hobbies were always one he could do alone or with Luna, and being a creative minded person it worked for him. But Triston, he wondered what he liked to do for fun.

Luna heard Tide chrip and at first looked to him in concern, before seeing his fins. Turning she saw their riders and chirped a bit quietly before looking at him. Almost like she was saying finally! She moved her gaze so they wouldn't feel her staring at them but was still keeping an eye on them.
 
Tide had no such qualms. He settled himself in amongst the Gronkles and looked on happily as the boys strolled off across the island, folding his wings peacefully against his back.

Triston blinked and stopped walking for a moment. What exactly did he do for fun? "Well, uh . . . I do like learning new flying tricks with Tide," he says slowly. "And swimming! I do like to swim. Sometimes I collect cool rocks I find," he added with a shrug. Then he smiled and met Lambi's eyes. "But painting, that sounds really fun! Could you show me how to do that sometime?" he asks hopefully.

He'd seen people painting before, once or twice. But he had no idea how to make paint, and there were far more important things to buy, so he'd always watched from a distance, if at all.
 
Luna liked seeing her rider having fun with another human. He hadn't had a friend before that wasn't a dragon. She didn't want to mess if up though which was why she tried to stay unnoticed. When Triston stopped walking Lambi followed suit, looking at him as he explained his hobbies. "I would be surprised if you didn't like swimming, since you have a tide glider," he laughed, when the met gazes again he couldn't help a blush creeping up again. "When we are done here and back at the house I'll grab some of my stuff and you can try painting," he smiled,"I'd be happy to teach you some painting, I think you'll really like it!" No one was ever interested in his painting before, most vikings found it a waste of time.
 
"That sounds great!" Triston said with a wide smile. "And, uh . . . if you want . . . I could teach you how to swim sometime, too." He dropped his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know you haven't had great experiences with it. But I think it might come in handy if you ever fall into the water and I'm not around, you know?"

Tide watched the humans for a few more minutes. Then slowly, he turned his gaze toward Luna and playfully poked her wing with his snout. He'd spent so long protecting his human that he wasn't sure if he even remembered how to socialize with other dragons.
 
Lambi was excited to show the other to paint but he got a bit nervous when the other brought up swimming. Him and water were not on the best of terms, he was in fact mostly afraid of it. "It probably would be smart to learn how to swim...given how much water we live near," he was still nervous about going near water,"Still...sounds like a fair trade to me. I'll teach you to paint a little and you'll help me go near the evil water...in a small pond." He was not going near the ocean, just nope, not in this lifetime if he could avoid it.

Luna was half watching her rider when she felt something poke her. Turning her head she saw tide and chirped a little. She couldn't really move much being surrounded by a bunch of sleepin gronkles. But she moved her tail to playfully pat the other's head. She usually stayed with Lambi so she didn't spend much time playing with other dragons.
 
Triston smiled and patted Lambi's shoulder. "That's a good start. Don't worry, we'll take it slow. And a small pond is the perfect choice to practice swimming in! Way easier to control the current, for one thing. But I'm way more excited to learn how to paint! Do you mix your own paints? Or buy them from somewhere? How is it made?"

The Tide Glider's mouth parted in a smile. So Luna did want to play! He beamed and sprayed a light mist of water over the Gronkles, trying to encourage them to move so he could get up.
 
Lambi smiled when the other patted his shoulder, though he was still worried. "As long as I can stand up on the pond I'll be happy," he said with a small bit nervous smile,"But I trust you, you saved me from a river!" He knew Triston wouldn't let him drown, it was just hard not to be scared about water. When he asked about his paints he perked up. "A little bit of both! I try and make most of my paint but sometimes I'll see a really pretty color I don't have an I'll buy it," he had a nice paint stash at home, and a little kit he could take on the road. He was excited to show Triston and probably show him some easy things to paint first.

Luna watched him mist the gronkles, who grumbled upset before getting up. Except that they all the gronkles got up in a huff and started walking right towards Triston and Lambi. "Ooooh ok," Lambi was forced to move away from Triston to let the gronkles pass. Luna huffed before chiding Tide quietly for accidentally separating the riders that were getting close to each other. She stood up as she tried to think of a way to get them close like that again.
 
Tide shook his head and chuffed softly, slithering over to Luna and gently bumping her cheek with his snout. He knew good and well a group of Gronkles wasn't going to keep Triston away for long. And he was right.

The instant the Gronkles passed, Triston laughed and went straight to Lambi's side, his eyes glittering. "Sorry. I think Tide sprayed them to get some space. They'll be fine, though." He tilted his head and hesitantly started to reach for Lambi's hand, but he thought better of it and stuffed his hand in his pocket instead. "So how do you make paint?"
 
Luna wasn't used to trying to get two people to be closer, considering they'd never met another rider. She felt tide nudge his cheek and chirped at him, letting him know it was ok. Once the gronkles passed she was happy to see that Triston was right back the the other's side. Lambi laughed once the gronkles walked off,"They're not a fan of water they like to laze in the sun. But they'll be fine, they'll find a nice warm spot to sunbathe in." He noticed the other's hand move and felt his heart beat up a little before the hand moved back into the other's pocket. "W-well you can make paint from alot, usually various plants, soil, berries, stuff like that," his cheeks were flushed,"I keep a small journal of the various things I've used to make paint and certain colors."
 
"I can help you make some more, if you want. You know. As kind of a way to pay you back for letting me use some," Triston offered with a grin. Then he gave Lambi a gentle nudge with his elbow. "Hey, want to stop for lunch or dinner at my dad's - er, Capper's place? I bet he'd love to have us."

Finally free to play, Tide bounced and slithered through the grass, rolling a few times and forming loops with his body. He tumbled towards Luna and tried to get her to play fight, snapping his jaws dramatically a few times.
 
(lol Triston randomly miscalling capper his dad 😂 and just going oop 0.0)

Lambi smiled when the other offered to help him make some more paint. "I would appreciate that, plus it might be fun to teach you how to make paint," he smiled at the other when he nudged him,"Hm, we do have to go back to the island and work on it so we might as well stop at his place." Seeing nothing at out place Lambi felt safe assuming that everyone on the island was ok. "Still it is a long flight...you sure your head is feeling fine?" he looked up to the other's bandage, happy to see no blood was soaking through or anything like that.

Spotting the loops he made with his body Luna ran and jumped through the loops he made. She chirped at him as she continued dashing around him. She liked playing tag like games with the tide glider since his body was long. Now that she'd had some time to rest she was a bit hyper, having fun getting to play with him.
 
(He was disowned as a child so the instant he found a father figure in Capper he was like "My dad now" XD)

"Yeah, I'm sure!" Triston said with a nod. "And hey, if we get enough of the island prepared, maybe we could take all the dragons there and sleep over for a night to test the nests out. If that'd be safe, I mean." He ran a hand through his hair and gave a lopsided smile. "I wouldn't want to leave all the dragons alone in the stables. But I do kind of miss Capper."

Tide was absolutely beside himself with delight. Here at last was a dragon who could keep up with his antics and was still willing to help watch over the humans they'd both come to care for. He chuffed happily and swished his tail through the grass before diving into a large bush to pretend to hide.
 
(oooooh OK 😂 that makes sense he like Dis meh dad noooow )

Lambi still wasn't sure and moved to walk around the other a bit, double checking his bandage looked fine. "It would be nice to see if the nests are doing well, then we could start bringing some of the dragons over little by little," the dragons here all got along really well. So taking them to the the new island wouldn't be hard it would just take a bit for them to adjust. The mention of the dragons in the stable made him a bit worried," Yeah...most of them do just fine if they're alone for awhile. But it's those little sneaky babies! I swear baby dragons don't listen to anyone or anything, a rock probably listens better than them." He didn't particularly want to be home alone either, even though he was used to spending the night with just Luna. He had...grown used to having Triston nearby.

Luna was having fun with the other's loops he made when suddenly the long dragon disappeared into the grass. The light fury flicked her ears back before trying to find him. Using her hearing she kept walking through the grass, trying to find the noodley dragon.
 
((Yah! But it's not like official or anything so he's trying not to actually call him Dad Lol))

Triston beamed when Lambi went to check his head, and instead of batting his hand away, he leaned closer so the boy could get a better look. "I'm not worried about the adult dragons, as far as taking care of them goes. It's the villagers. If they find out the dragons are there alone, they might try something."

Then he gasped in delight. "I know! What if we invited Capper and his dragons to stay over a few days until your mom gets back? We wouldn't have to make as many trips to the island, and all the dragons would be in one spot!"

Tide wriggled his haunches as Luna approached, his eyes dilating wide in the shadows. He had to time his attack perfectly. His ear webbing perked forward as he listened for the Light Fury's steps. Then he leapt out of the bushes with a cheerful roar, attempting to startle Luna.
 
(just like one of those verbal slip ups 😂 we are all guilty of those)

Lambi smiled when this time Triston leaned his head so he could get a better look. His mom usually didn't get hurt and when she did she took care of herself. Other than Luna he never really had anyone he was close to that he was worried about like this. Seeing his head look ok he relented his examination. "That's a fair point...most of the time they stay away but there's always the chance someone might get bold and venture close. Normally they see Phantom from a mile away and they steer clear but he won't be there," he knew now he couldn't risk leaving the house alone for even a few hours. He was deep in thought when Triston suddenly perked up, making him jump a little. "Oh Hm...that could be a really good idea, then he could watch the house when we are working on the island! That will make keeping the dragons safe easier while we work on making nests and everything," the tunnel would make it very easy to move all the dragons over too. He was curious which group he wanted to moved. He was thinking the deadly nadders on the island would be a good first batch, there weren't alot but they adapted to change well.

Luna had heard tide almost instantly when he moved a little in the grass. Furies had an extraordinary sense of smell after all. But she purposefully acted obvious to the impending attack. When he finally jumped out she made an extra dramatic scene before rolling over to play dead. She never got to play like this, normally the dragons in the stable were too hurt to play and all the dragons here had their groups.