Ielta Egretudo: Zabeth's "Next Project"

Zabeth had been one of the last sponsors left when the very last of the unsponsored hatchlings inched up to him-- though he was technically starting on his yearly progression towards being female, it was easiest to use whichever pronoun he was closest too at the time-- and sat down at his foot. She didn't look up at him, or even give any indication that she had chosen him, at all: she just sat there, not quite touching him, in silence. Her eyes darted around, lighting on nothing Zabeth could discern by watching their path, and he waited a moment to see if she said anything. She didn't.

"Ielta?" he asked, perplexed.

"Shhh," she said.

"What--"

"Shhh!"

Zabeth fell silent again, blinking at the copper chick in confusion. The rest of the unchosen sponsors drifted away, leaving him standing alone, with a chick at his feet and a mother looking at him with some amusement. "Ielta, are you ready to come home?" he asked at last.

"Is it safe there?" Ielta asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Nothing will harm you, I promise," Zabeth assured her, wondering if she would always confuse him, or if he would someday come to understand her.

Ielta was silent another moment, as if considering, then nodded and said, "As long as you don't mind that I'm so strange."

"Of course not," Zabeth answered, blinking down at her again. She actually looked at him at last, with a surprisingly sweet smile, and followed him as he started towards the exit. As there was no hatching this time, there were no tables for hungry newly-hatched. "There is nothing wrong with being a little strange."

"I'm more than a little strange," she pointed out reasonably. "All my brothers and sisters say so."

"I am more than a little strange, myself," Zabeth countered. "We will be glad to have you in the family."

"Okay," she said after a moment of thought. "Tell me about who else lives with you?"

The description of the rest of the household took the entire trip home-- more of a feat since he didn't teleport them, but actually walked and took a lift to the appropriate deck. Ielta listened with every sign of attention, though she did keep glancing aside, as if seeing things out of the corner of her eyes. Once she burst out laughing at nothing at all, in the middle of one of Zabeth's sentences, then at his confused stare, ducked her head and muttered an apology.

When they finally reached the apartment, everyone was waiting for them in the living room. Peta-mari was lounging, currently a slender anthropomorphic version of herself with a pair of long, heavily-tufted tails, across the couch, while Zamah-aisi batted at one of said tufts lazily. As the door slid open to admit Zabeth and his new charge, Peta-mari had just flicked her tail away and swatted her "attacker" on the shoulder with a different tail. Both of them looked up at the sound of entry.

Ziar was at the computer-- he was still small enough to use it, given he was only a few months old, though he did have a tendency to foul up his long wing-arms when he tried to use anything but the keyboard-- but he, too, turned to look. Standing on her hind legs beside him, peering up at the whatever he was doing on the screen, was Ceremeth. The pair of them had hit it off fairly well, though Ziar was routinely confused by the dark hatchling's odd sense of humor and even odder maturity, for her age. No matter how clever Ziar was, he was still very much a little boy, and Ceremeth's solemnity puzzled him to no end. At the opening of the door, Ceremeth dropped back down to all fours, pivoting to greet the newcomer, as well, with a serious but not unfriendly expression.

"Everyone, this is Ielta Egretudo," Zabeth announced kindly as the door slid closed behind them. "She'll be living with us, now."

::Be kind to her,:: he warned silently, excluding the chick from the sending. ::She is not quite stable.::

"Hello," Ielta said in a near-whisper, looking up shyly at the rest of the room. She looked so tiny, even compared to Ceremeth, who was actually younger, given she'd hatched far later than Ielta had been born.

"Hello, Ielta," Ceremeth said graciously, the first to come forward and greet her. She bumped her nose gently against Ielta's, her short, fuzzily-tufted tail waving like a friendly cat's.

"This is Ceremeth," Zabeth introduced her. "She just came to join us a couple weeks ago."

Ielta didn't respond for a moment, eyes roving over the dark-opal coat as it caught the light. Ceremeth stood patiently still, except for her flicking tail, for the vague scrutiny. Finally Ielta shook herself free of the curious fascination and beamed at her. "You're pretty," she commented.

"Thank you," Ceremeth nodded solemnly. "So are you."

"Thanks," Ielta replied, blushing.

"That is Peta-mari," Zabeth continued, gesturing towards the indolent dragoness on the couch. The dragoness in question smiled lazily at her.

::Pretty coloring,:: she agreed with Ceremeth, letting one long tail coil over towards her to focus her mental speech. ::I'm your aunt; Ceremeth's your cousin.::

::And I'm too far removed to tell you how many great's I'd be!:: Zamah-aisi piped up with a jaw-gaping grin from beside the couch, her voice much easier to hear despite the lack of physical closeness. ::But I'm related in there somewhere.::

"Oh," Ielta said, blinking at them both. "I'm pleased to meet you, then...."

::You won't be for long,:: Zamah-aisi assured her, still grinning. ::I can be kind of mean.::

"Zamah-aisi likes to engage in rather wicked pranks," Zabeth explained dryly at Ielta's blank and slightly nervous expression. "But she will not make you the butt of them if I have anything to say about it."

"Like a capricious wind," Ielta muttered, non-sensically. Or perhaps not so non-sensical, if she somehow could sense Zamah-aisi's affinity to wind.

::What a good description!:: the dark dragoness exclaimed happily. ::I like that.::

"And this is Ziar," Zabeth concluded. "He's been with us for a few months now."

"Hello," Ziar said, shifting uncomfortably as Ielta's pale eyes lit on him and focused there with sudden intensity. Ielta didn't reply for a long moment, just staring-- not quite at him, but certainly on him. Then she shook herself free again and dipped her head in a shy-looking greeting.

Thinking that ending the "confrontation" as it were sounded like a good idea, Zabeth broke the silence. "I have a room all ready for you, Ielta. Would you like to see it?"

"Oh. Yes, please," Ielta replied politely, and let him lead her down the hall towards what was the last open room in the apartment, reserved specifically for her. Zabeth merely hoped it would be "safe" enough for her.