As it turned out, however, the first to talk about adopting was Ontellonji.

"I never thought you were interested in kids," Pebai told him, stretched out on her stomach in full dragon form on his bed, Forge Eden under her paw to keep him from annoying her "big brother" with his antics, at least for the moment.

"Never did, either," Ontellonji grunted from the floor, where he'd curled his forelegs against his chest and was doing wing-push-ups, his shag of hair pulled back on top of his head into a short, upstanding tail. "Then I went and had some. Makes you think a little different."

Pebai put her chin on her paws, a little sadly, since she didn't seem to have "caught" in the frenzy. Or, at least, she wasn't getting round and pregnant-looking. She didn't really want to think about it, and just settled for watching him. Forge let out a little rumble of protest at the added pressure, and she shifted so she wasn't squishing him. "What about your sports thing?" Ontellonji had been offered a position on one of the Nexus-wide, dragon-based sporting teams, currently on a probationary basis, but with hints at a more stable place on the team once he proved himself to be as athletic and competitive as rumor made him out to be. He was due to start on the team not long after his brood was due to hatch.

"Take him with," Ontellonji said shortly, though not with malice, with a dismissive flick of his tail. "Why not? Any son of mine-- or daughter of mine-- would like the same sorts of things I do. Especially since what's 'er name--"

"Shandura!" Pebai exclaimed, lifting her boyishly-tufted chin again, a little exasperated that Ontellonji had difficulty remembering his own mate's name, despite all the time he spent with her. He'd never had any trouble remembering hers, but then, he had grown up with her.

"Yeah, her. Especially since she is a sports nut, even worse than me."

"I never thought you'd meet someone worse than you," Pebai giggled. Shandura was, indeed, over the top when it came to sports-- or much of anything, for that matter-- whereas Ontellonji had the capability of talking about something else, at least. Not that he often did, given that's what he'd been gearing up towards for the past four years, ever since he'd gotten the idea into his head that he'd like to become a professional athlete. He hadn't cared whether he did so on Avengaea or on Atu or through the network of Nexian dragons which was constantly expanding and becoming more self-sufficient and complex, like a network of any other compatible species throughout the collective universes. He'd still had plenty of time for his "little sister"-- who was, ironically, taller than he was-- and for having fun in Driolo or on Star City, or on Avengaea when Frux took them "home" to the Nidus or Sanctuary for the holidays.

Shandura, though, seemed to think of nothing else. She and Ontellonji had long, enthusiastic conversations about this or that team, this or that maneuver, this or that game, or had even more enthusiastic one-on-ones in various games. Shandura usually won-- Pebai suspected that was because she cheated and used her telekinetics and speed magic, but she had yet to actually catch the daemoness cheating-- but Ontellonji didn't seem to mind. When he tired of that, he always came back inside for his usual non-mate-involved pass-times, like baiting Frux, chatting or wrestling with Pebai, and, like now, working out more out of boredom than anything else. Given that Shandura was currently extremely rotund and very ungainly-- a strange sight on such a long, snake-like creature-- with soon-to-be-laid eggs, and so was denied her usual sporting passtimes, those boredom-workouts occurred more often, as did spurts of energetic chase and wrestling with Pebai or one of his other, more energetic friends on the school grounds. There was only so long Ontellonji could sit in one place and only talk sports, after all, before he needed to move around, mate or no mate.

"Well, at least I 'spect she'll pop out some good, strong kids," Ontellonji said. "Doubt I'll see much of her after she does, though. She's got some weird, big family, or pack, or bond-group, or... something. I'm not too interested in joining up, so she'll probably be gone once she's done with the kids."

"And you'll be gone, too, off to get famous," Pebai added.

Ontellonji switched from wing-push-ups to foreleg-push-ups without even pausing for breath-- with only one foreleg at a time, the other tucked up under his wing. "Or at least moderately well off," he agreed. "And have fun doing it!"

"Are you sure you'll want a baby with you?" Pebai asked again. It wasn't that she doubted his intent, she was just afraid he hadn't thought it through. "You're going to be awfully busy...."

"Won't be a baby," he said simply. "Probably be more like a child. Most of 'em seem to be, when they first pop. We were."

"Well, still. A child is a lot of work."

"I know that," Ontellonji told her, twisting his neck around to look back at her, even as he switched to the other forelegs mid-push. "I watched Frux, and I remember what he went through with the four of us. And he loves kids, even little monsters like us."

Pebai smiled, at that. No matter how often Ontellonji and Frux had fought, or how often Frux complained bitterly about Ontellonji's attitude, or how many times Ontellonji had gotten in trouble just to prove to Frux that he could, her big brother had grown up to respect his foster-father. He'd never tell Frux that, of course, just like Frux would never tell Ontellonji that no matter how frustrating he'd been, he still loved him like a son and was proud of him. It was only the knowledge that Ontellonji's children would likely be worse than he was that kept Frux from adopting one, himself.

For someone like Ontellonji, though, "worse", in this case, meant "better". "Hell," Ontellonji smirked at her, "might even take two."

"'Onji!" Pebai laughed. "What are you going to do with two? You're going to be busy-- training, traveling, doing games, signing autographs--"

"Oh, I'm not stupid enough to think that's any way to raise a kid," Ontellonji agreed, dropping to his belly and rolling onto his back, adopting a very humanoid-like pose for a series of stomach-crunches. His tail curled up in time with his chest, as if he were exercising that, too. "I'll enroll him, or her, or them, in the school. I can do training here, and get 'em tickets for games when I travel, that sorta thing. They need an education, after all, right?"

All right, maybe he had thought things through. "Well, that's true... and you'll have plenty of money to pay for them, if you get taken on permanent...."

"Right. And Frux'll help, if I bug him. Everyone knows his family's loaded." Ontellonji grinned at her expression.

"Ontellonji Jariane, if you take on the responsibility of children, you need to be able to look after them yourself, not mooch off of Frux!" she scolded.

"I know, I know!" he laughed, and sat up all the way, leaning over to give her tiny beard a little tug. "I was joking."

"Good," Pebai huffed at him.

"Should probably go check on Shandura again," Ontellonji said, rolling back to his paws and giving his wings and shoulders a good stretch. "She's damn bored, after all, and those eggs are supposed to pop any day now. Maybe even right now!" Pebai giggled, and he gave her forehead a friendly lick. "See you 'round, sis."

"See you 'round, bro," she answered, and they both left his room to go their separate ways: Ontellonji to chat sports with his mate, and Pebai to chase an energetic Forge Eden out across the desert for a while.