" ... so I've gotten two little sponsors so far," Gibelettes read the last lines of the letter from Rasil, "and I'm starting to wonder if I've somehow caught Keshna's run of bad luck with adopting. Let me know if she's somehow managed to turn hers around, so that maybe there will be hope for me! Hoping your new friend is working out better. Love, Rasil."

"Poor Rasil," Dokjyzlui giggled. "It can't be that hard to find somebody friendly, can it?"

"You have no idea," Gibelettes sighed, and set down the letter to scoop up her third bond-- and, Dokjyzlui was certain, final bond-- with one forepaw and settle her against her chest. Knowing what she was thinking-- that she'd had to look for a long time before she found someone friendly-- Dokjyzlui patted her paw comfortingly before snuggling into her fur with a happy rumble. Well, with what would have been a happy rumble, if she'd been big enough to make anything like a rumble. Someday!

"Well, when you're looking someplace with lots of friendly people, anyway," she amended. Gibelettes, after all, hadn't been looking at very nice places.

"He'll find someone," Zourin commented from her pristinely-clean, ruthlessly scrubbed-- and disinfected, and fire-cleansed, and anything else she could think of-- pallet along the other wall. "It just might take him a while. But he'll find someone."

"As long as he keeps looking," Dokjyzlui agreed. "And he will, knowing him. He'll wind up with a huge adopted family, I bet, and my poor clutch-sib will be utterly miserable in a crowded house!" Gibelettes chuckled along with her, which made her smile and nestle deeper into her fur. "So are you going to write him back?" she asked.

"Later," Gibelettes answered. "He'll want to know about how well you're settling in, and I expect he needs a little encouragement."

"That was positively gloomy, for him," Zourin added.

"If that's gloomy for Rasil, I like Rasil!" Dokzyjlui laughed.

"He is quite likeable," Gibelettes said. "At least if you like the cheerful sort."

"Or the disgusting sort," Zourin shuddered. "He has always done his best to be particularly disgusting in my presence."

"You're his sister," Dokjyzlui suggested, smiling. "Maybe he thought it was his job. But he loves you, anyway."

What Zourin said in answer might have been "I know" but it was to muted and mumbled that it was hard to tell.

"Are you going to tell him about how-- well I'm doing?" Dokjyzlui asked. She was being a little sarcastic, but only a little. She'd been trying very, very hard to stay out of the dark caetran's way. Her first, and only, little interview with her had gone much better than anyone had expected. Dokjyzlui had wound up yelling at Keshnarmeynee for being mean to her bond, and had only fled behind Gibelettes's foreleg when the demoness had actually taken a swipe at her-- which had made Gibelettes growl, startling all of them. Dokjyzlui had been pleased, though.

In the end, just as in the end of the exactly two other fights they'd gotten into, Keshna had gone away looking both annoyed but vaguely impressed. Dokjyzlui wasn't sure what to make of that-- she actually felt vaguely dirty at impressing such a mean, sour creature-- and she was sure that if she wound up in contact with Keshna too much, she'd wind up doing or saying something to get herself, or her bond, into trouble. Gibelettes's pleading for her to keep her head down and not cause trouble was motivated by fear, but Dokjyzlui's was merely practical. She was looking forward to growing up, since no one said she had to stop being able to play, and then she'd be able to stand up to mean people without being afraid that they'd squish her.

She just hoped she wound up much, much bigger than Keshna.

"You've been wonderful," Gibelettes said firmly, nuzzling at her. "I don't know how you've managed to keep Keshna from wanting to eat you, but I'm grateful...."

"She'd actually a little weirded out by you," Zourin put in, sounding smug that she actually knew something they didn't.

"How'd you find that out?" Dokjyzlui asked, surprised. Though, really, not so surprised by the comment then by who made it. She watched Keshnarmeynee closely, and though the demoness avoided her almost as much as she avoided the demoness, she had caught the sidelong looks she'd given her, both confused and annoyed and, now and then, pleased. Confused was more common, annoyed came whenever she was being particularly nice to one of the other pack members, and pleased... she hadn't yet figured that one out. It actually made her a little nervous to contemplate what about her might please a demon like that.

"Verklei was telling Hsaztnokt aaaaaall about it," Zourin said. "She couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it, after all, and she's the one with the most insight into our illustrious pack leader, so she's been picking up on it." 

"Of course, Verklei doesn't know why," another head commented wickedly, "but you can't expect that much insight from Verklei."

"Well, better off-balance than angry," Gibelettes commented with a little shudder. "I hate when she gets angry."

Dokjyzlui patted her bond's paw again reassuringly. "I'll try not to get her angry, promise."

"I know."

All in all, it wasn't quite as bad as Gibelettes's fear had implied it was going to be. The only member of the pack Dokjyzlui didn't like, at least enough to get along with, was Keshna herself. Verklei, fierce though she was and with some rather misguided loyalties, was friendly and guileless and liked to play with Dokjyzlui whenever she wasn't busy doing something else. Iszgih was funny, with his scatteredness, and completely gentle; the little caetran just wanted to mother him, every time she saw him. Hsaztnokt, though loud and raucous, wasn't really dangerous, and accepted everybody. Zourin still refused to let her touch her, but she hoped that someday she could prove her cleanliness, and since she made Gibelettes happy, Zourin had determined to like her anyway, dirty or not.

So life wasn't really all that bad. Dokjyzlui could have lived without Keshna, perhaps, but one rotten person in a pack full of not-so-rotten people wasn't too bad. She didn't like when Keshna came home talking about plans and plots and power, but she didn't do that often, because it usually put her into an even fouler mood as soon as she saw her "worthless" pack. Gibelettes always made herself scarce when those moods hit, and Dokjyzlui wasn't about to stick around without her bond, so she didn't usually see the results or outcomes of those moods.

"Well, letter-writing can be done tomorrow," Gibelettes finally said. "For now, it's bedtime. We're on hunting duty tomorrow morning."

Though Gibelettes didn't actually eat much, being technically undead, she could still kill things. Dokjyzlui just liked being able to get out of the dens for a while, so she put up with the early bedtime to come with. "Good night, Gibelettes."

The demon-dragon dipped her head to let her wrap her forelegs clumsily around her muzzle in a hug. ::Good night, love,:: her mind whispered back, with the same slightly disbelieving, warm sense of awe that she usually sent with when she called her that. Dokjyzlui, not sure she deserved that kind of devotion but glad that she could at least give it after everything, licked her cheek and snuggled back down again. 

There was a soft chorus of "good night"s from Zourin in the corner, then the lights went out, and they all settled down to sleep.

Chapter Ten

Back to Keshnarmeynee - Back to Verklei

Back to Iszgih - Back to Giblettes - Back to Dokjyzlui

Back to Rasil - Back to Zourin - Back to Zkikiyui