Look At Us!, Private

[Ashe]

Santiago glanced over his shoulder, seeing the human trudging along at such a slow pace. Why wouldn't he hurry up? Some Dracons were trying to explore here! Especially this Dracon. But he also...didn't really want to get lost, and Ashe knew these caves pretty well. He knew this from the others in the cave with him, and their sure footed movements whenever they, as a group, went out.

But today it was just himself and Ashe. No one to guide him back to fresh air if he got lost... He wasn't a clutz, and he probably could survive, but... What would the ladies think, seeing Santiago getting lost in a cave like this? He snorted at the thought, his tail lashing back and forth as he waited for Ashe. He knew he would be popular with the ladies, if only he could FIND some, you know? Trish didn't count, and that one he'd had eggs with- she was pretty, yeah, but there were others in the sea...

Finally, Ashe caught up with him on his small little human legs. Santiago turned his head back to shove his nose into Ashe's chest, and the man took this as a friendly gesture. He hugged the head, patting him on the nose, then released him and kept walking.

"Where are you to, in such a big hurry, anyway?" Ashe muttered.

[Skylark]

Frezic just couldn't stand it anymore. He just couldn't. Being in that cave, spending so much time with draconics that were more intelligent then he was... The endless frustration at not being better. He was the biggest and the strongest, yes, but that didn't matter as much as a pile of dung in that cave. Besting a draconic half your size in strength only gave the red beast so much satisfaction.

He had had to get out of there. So here he was. Wandering, alone. He had been spending a lot of time alone recently. It was depressing for him since he wasn't really a loner type. Sure, he didn't talk much, but the company of others brought this draconic comfort and a sense of security. He wanted someone to be with, someone who wasn't going to outclass him and wander off.

Maybe he should find a mate.

The large red draconic looked down at a winding path that weaved through some larger cliffs, watching idly as others of his kind and some humans went about their day-to-day lives. He wanted to go down and meet some of them, to interact, but he had this horrible nagging doubt that they wouldn't want to meet him. He was stupid. He was dumb. He couldn't talk nearly as elegantly as most other draconics.

But he needed to do this, right? He needed to prove to himself that just because he wasn't as fluent as other draconics, he was still worth something. He had thoughts, feelings, and emotions. He could utter some words and form rough sentences. He could outfly anyone who challenged him. ... Yeah, Frezic was pretty awesome. It was about time he went and found someone, outside of his stupid cave, who appreciated that.

So, the large draconic stood and fanned out his wings, rumbling deeply in his chest out of the joy of just feeling and remembering how powerful he really was. His shifting caused some pebbles and rocks to fall off his low ledge, clattering down the the path below. His eyes followed a few of the stone, looking curiously down to see if there was anyone there he might try and meet. Might as well start somewhere.

[Ashe]

It was getting real annoying, Ashe thought, trying to keep this Draconic from running off. He couldn't just leave him, could he? But he didn't want to slow him up, or try riding him really, and on foot wasn't an option... Something had the Draconic excited and Ashe couldn't calm him down. So finally, when the Makiyan came back to see what was taking so long, Ashe made a shooing motion. "Go on, git outta here!" Ashe said, taking a step forward to add emphasis. Santiago slid to a halt, looking at the human with confusion.

Ashe wanted him to leave? Why? It hurt.

"You obviously want to go explore, so go have fun! I'll meet you back at the cave later, alright? Just don't get lost..." Ashe added, though he knew the Draconics, even the sheltered ones, knew their way around here much better than he did.

Once the reasoning was explain, Santiago sighed with relief. So Ashe wasn't mad. And he did want to explore... He wasn't quite sure about being alone, since he had never been completely alone before, but it sounded fun! So he gave a quick nod to Ashe and whipped around with such speed he nearly bent himself in half in his eagerness to get out of the caves. Without Ashe here, he could even venture outside the tunnels onto the side of the cliff...

The fresh air felt nice. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs. What to do now? Go fishing, eat, swim... Well, he couldn't swim, but he could try. He'd never tried before, besides in the shallow basin in the cave. He could stand up in it, and the water would hardly reach his elbows. It was for bathing, after all. Keeping skin and scales clean.

He made his way through the jutting rocks, looking around. He saw other Draconics with their humans out and about, and further up, he saw heads poking out of cave entrances. His eyes scanned around, paused, continued, hesitated...and back tracked. There was a shadow that caught his eye. Not just because it looked big and slightly intimidating, but because of the wings. He had something he didn't... How intriguing. He looking at his slim sides just to make sure he didn't have those appendages himself. Nope, nothing.

What was he doing? He seemed to just be...staring. How boring!

[Skylark]

As Frezic looked down, studying all the other draconics and humans, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit lonely. He remembered his younger years when he'd spend all his time with his kin in Skylark's caverns. He had a lot back then, four other draconics shared his home! But... they had all slowly faded away. Skylark hadn't felt that they were getting the attention they deserved so she found new, smaller homes for them all.

He hoped they were happy. His missed his... Well, this was probably horrible to say, but he missed his stupid relatives. Only him and the intelligent ones had stayed and he couldn't connect with the intelligent ones like he could with the others. Moving into Ret's caverns hadn't helped much, either. His only other draconic was pretty damn intelligent herself.

And so the large red beast had taken to spending more and more time by himself while before he had always been surrounded by friendly faces. It was different, to say the least, and not entirely unpleasant, but sometimes he missed the close affections of the draconics he'd grown up with.

Ugh, there was some creature down there that was the same species as Ret's brat. Frezic snorted and growled softly in his chest, not low enough to carry past his rocking outcropping. It took a little while for him to realize how silly he was behaving. After all, just because it LOOKED like Ret's brat didn't mean that it ACTED like her. Maybe he shouldn't be so prejudice.

Yeah. Maybe he should give the other draconic a chance before he judged. After all, he was starved of companionship. It'd sure show her if he made a friend with another draconic in her species! ....Yeah.

Frezic jumped off his ledge suddenly and glided gently down to the path below until he was standing several yards away from the other draconic. Now what? ... He'd just stand here and see what happened, I guess. The poor red wasn't exactly used to meeting strangers.

[Ashe]

Santiago arched his neck back, craning his head to watch the large beast fly toward him. Those wings... While the draconic itself wasn't that much bigger than him, the wings made him look bigger. Was he going to attack? Santiago braced himself, to either stand and fight or get ready to run. He was sure, if push came to shove, he could take that beast on. Those wings would only get in the way, surely? He hoped it wouldn't come to that, of course, but you never knew, when you were facing wild creatures. Since he didn't have a human with him, like most of the others, Santiago could only assume he was feral and possibly mean.

As he braced himself, the light from the center of his forehead brightened a bit, the veins of it shooting across his face. He gathered himself, his muscles rippling under his skin. When the stranger landed, just a couple of leaps away, he tensed, ready to spring. Something about this stranger... He knew that distance meant nothing to one such as him. But he had never met one of this breed, did not know what its power was.

How sheltered he felt... The feeling passed after a few seconds, but it made him realize how little he did know. And he wanted to know so much more! He couldn't learn if he fought this stranger. He'd just have to try Plan B. With his tendrils stretching up along his neck, the tips twitching just slightly, curiously, he inched forward on his large paws. His gait was awkward, as stretched out as he was with long hing limbs, but he made it appear more feline-curious, rather than aggressive. He inclined his head slightly to the side, tilting his jaw upward, questioningly.

[Skylark]

The other draconic was acting cautious. Good. He wasn't an idiot. Frezic was bigger, probably stronger, and he had inherited a breath attack of fire. Not that he was about to underestimate his lean, dark new acquaintance, but he was confident that he would have the advantage in a fight. Not that the Lashak was going to try and make him aware of that fact, on the contrary Frezic took a non-aggressive stance.

His wings fluttered against his sides for an instants just from nerves at Santiago moving closer. The large leathery appendages wouldn't do too well in a fight, sure, but they sure went a long way towards making him seem even bigger then he already appeared. But he didn't want to seem big and scary and accidently shoo Santiago away, so the Lashak settled his wings back against his body comfortably, non-threatening.

The Makiyan seemed curious. About him? Had he never seen one of Frezic's kind before? But they were so common! ...Or, at least, they had seemed to have been. How strange that this draconic should not know his kind. Well, Santiago had shown his curiosity, it was up to Frezic to answer. The large red draconic shifted his stance, lowing his head slightly, non-threateningly, echoing Santiago's curiosity and adding to it. He took his own step forward, stretching out his muzzle towards Santiago curiously then pulling back slightly.

What was he doing? He should speak! Just get it out in the open now and know for sure. Frezic straitened up, arching his muscular neck and nodded, touching his own chest. "Frezic." He offered his name and then relaxed, tilting his head curiously at the other draconic. "Can speak?"

[Ashe]

Santiago was inching closer, slowly and carefully, when the Lashak did the same move. Their noses almost touched, which Santiago sort of wished would have happened. Nose-touching was a great greeting, as far as he was concerned. Almost like...what was that thing the humans did with their hands? Putting them together and shaking them. He'd only seen it done once or twice, and never spoken of, so for all of his cunning he still didn't have a name for it. But people seemed to like it, and it wasn't bad.

He pulled back when the Lashak pulled back, arching his neck and raising his tail just slightly, balancing with poise and grace while he pondered what to do next. This one didn't seem to want to get too close just yet, and it... It talked. Words that he had only ever heard from Ashe's mouth, the same tongue the human spoke in. He recognized it enough to place the language, notice the words, and grasp the meaning. It still didn't make up for this new issue...

He couldn't speak. He had never tried before. Ashe had never worked with him, having assumed the Draconics he was lucky enough to get couldn't speak. Butterfly had been the one exception. The others were blumbering idiots...

Santiago would try, though. He knew the word the human called him enough to recite it, if only his mouth would work with him.

"Sssssaaahhhh-" the rest tapered off into a grunty roar. Didn't really sound like a word... For a second there, he'd thought he'd had it. The S sound was easy to make, breathing through your teeth. It was a simple S. The rest of the word Santiago, though... So he hung his head a bit in defeat.

[Skylark]

Frezic had never been... touchy. He'd brush against his kin, perhaps greet one with a touch on the shoulder, but he wasn't what you'd call cuddly. He had more of a loner lifestyle, preferring to lay in an empty patch of sunlight then to go and socialize with other draconic. This had severed him well during his lifetime, especially when he was so bitter about constantly being reminded that he was stupid, but he'd found it rather... lonely.

It would be nice to make a friend. Not that there wouldn't be a couple rocky patches as this antisocial draconic tried to learn how to interact with strangers, but he was finally willing to try. With draconic that he could meet, learn about, and either stick with or avoid and forget about, at least. It'd be a while before he'd try and extend such inquiry to his annoying kin.

"Try 'gain." The great red draconic came closer to his slightly smaller acquaintance, nudging his forehead to encourage him to pick up his head. "Try speak ah-gain." He knew this breed, they were more intelligent then just your average big bulky land-walkers. His kin could out speak him when she was just a hatchling, this adult should be able to talk circles around him. Yet Frezic had the feeling that trying to teach an adult to talk about be a bit more difficult then a clever little hatchling... Adults could be stubborn. He knew. He was one.

The Lashak sat down, shifting his body to a more relaxed position, staying quite close to Santiago now. He was preparing for a long chat or at least a couple minutes of trying to convince him to speak, all thoughts of possibly encountering a hostile draconic banished. If there was any danger, there would have been some sign by now, but this draconic had shown no aggression towards him or anyone else. So he let down his guard.

[Ashe]

Santiago was a bit happier to see that he didn't get dismissed for not being able to talk. He was in the presence of one of the rare ones that could talk, not a dumb one; this was thrilling! When he touched Santi's forehead with his muzzle, Santi's eyes went crossed trying to watch the look on the other's face. He'd been nosed and bumped before by others, and even nuzzled by that lady friend he'd had eggs with when he caught her, but this was somehow different.

And, he sat down next to him, even. Santiago looked over at his new acquaintance, determined to try again. He opened his mouth, thinking about how to move it to get the right sounds to come out, the sounds that Ashe had made before with his smaller human mouth.

"Saaaahhhhnnnn..." he trailed off, the word already misshapen. He gives up on it, grunting a bit and lashing his tail with annoyance. He wondered if the other could say it. He looked at him expectantly, waiting for a few moments before realizing he didn't know his name, and so couldn't recite it back to him. Ashe wasn't here to translate Santi's futile attempts. And if Frezic couldn't say it, Santiago would have to keep trying on his own without an example to learn from. This was going to be rough...

Maybe a different approach.

"Guuhhhh," he tried. The last part of his name. He couldn't shape his lips properly for the 'o' sound, though, and it came out in a grunt. Ugh, this was annoying!

[Skylark]

This draconic was weird. Did he not like it when Frezic prodded his head to encourage him to speak? If he didn't, he should do something about it, but he didn't do anything, he just stared and acted weird. Or maybe this weird to Frezic was normal to this draconic, he didn't know. He couldn't know. He was so used to his kin. They had been with him so long that he always knew how they would react to something, but this draconic was different with an entire history and story all to his own that Frezic had never been apart of. How strange.

What was even stranger was that he seemed to have chosen a difficult word to pronounce for his first word. Frezic knew that this was a foolish idea, but apparently the (supposedly) clever draconic did not. It would be much more realistic to choose a simple word, one that had a few syllables that he would not have trouble trying to say for the first time. Probably an 'S' word. But not this 'S' word that he was trying.

He tilted his head when the draconic stops trying to say his word and then looks at him as if he was going to say it for him. "What?" Frezic said with a snort. He was no psychic draconic. If this great purple beast was looking for one, he should go looking elsewhere. Frezic wasn't nearly smart enough to be psychic. But then he was trying again and the great big red watched him intently, waiting for him to get something right. He expected him to be able to get something right.

But, as before, he was disappointed. Not that Frezic would take that as the end of things. Oh no, he wasn't done trying to get this draconic to speak yet. He leaned over, bumping his shoulder again Santiago's to get his attention and to help, once again, encourage him through physical means.

"Try 'gain." The red commanded gruffly. "Talkin' harda learn. No try no learn. Try 'gain." He paused, as if waiting for Santiago to begin speaking right away, but then he remembered the thought he had had earlier and spoke again. This was becoming quite the speech for him. "Maybe try easy word? Say 'rock.' Say 'sand.' Easy word first, hard word next. 'kay?"

[Ashe]

This one's easy way of encouraging made things so much easier for Santiago. He relaxed, gazed down at his paws to select a word. He had been trying to say his name, to greet the other Draconic properly with the exchange, but that had failed, and now this Draconic, while nice and helpful, probably thought he was funny - funny in a sad way. That one could talk, Santiago could not. He lashed his tail back and forth as he thought, trying to pick out something simple. He would be able to say something simple, surely, and maybe look smart and actually feel smart. But what word... Ah, heck, he had been trying to say Santiago for a while now, and it was an "sssss" sounding word. So was "Sand". So he would go with that one.

"Ssssaahhhhnnnnd. Sahund. Saaannnnd."

He did it! He had a hell of a time getting his mouth to move at the right moments while making those sounds, but he did it. Well enough, anyway. He was pleased with himself and sat taller, stretching up his neck and repeating the word. "Saand!" Too bad Sand wasn't his name, he could handle that. But it wasn't, and he had more work to do. He repeated his first word a few more times until it sounded -right- when he said it, to his ears. He was pleased he had been able to do this, but figured he should show off a bit more and pick another word. But he didn't want to use all of the ones Frezic said. He had to prove he could think for himself, too. So he looked around and saw...a rock. Rock! No, wait, Frezic had said that... Huh, no wonder he had used those two, sand and rock, that's all that seemed to be out here... He had an idea though.

"Wha-terrrrrr. Wahterr. Water."

There! His second word! And it was his own word, too. It wasn't exactly harder, he didn't think, but it was progress and he wasn't just some dumb silent Draconic anymore. He still had a long way to go before he could say his name, but with this strange Draconic's help, he might be able to.

"Sannntiiiiiiguh. Sanchti, Sahntigo, San..." Nope. That wasn't making it any easier. He would have to go back to easier words. Like maybe Rock. Or something like that. He heaved a sigh, yawning and stretching his jaw. It was getting quite the workout! He looked over at Frezic to see how he was doing. Was he, Santiago, doing better now? He was going to keep improving, of course.

[Skylark]

As his fellow draconic seemed to decide on a new word to attempt, Frezic tilted his head to one side, curious as to what word he was trying to pronounce. It soon became clear, as how the other was improving as rapidly, not doubt as the Lashak expected of his breed. He had to stop himself from encouraging him to continue trying to pronounce the word mid-pronunciation, knowing from experience that that was quite annoying and distracting, but once the other draconic got it, Frezic did not hold back in his praise.

"Good good! You speak now, good sand! Speak more, say more!" The great red draconic nudged his companion's shoulder with his snout, attempting to encourage him further. Although, it seemed as if the other draconic didn't really need all that much encouragement anymore, seeing as how he was determined to get some more words right.

Frezic pulled back and watched him again, a bit confused at the next word he was trying to attempt. Wha? Did he mean What? That was a silly word to try and say, it would make much more sense to try and say an object than something like what! But Santiago looked rather determined, so Frezic stayed silent, waiting to see if he'd be able to accomplish his goal and ready to push him around some more if he gave up before Frezic was satisfied with his success.

"Water!" The lashak exclaimed once the makiyan managed to pronounce the word correctly, obviously impressed by his success. "Good word, good! Say more, try together, ah..." Frezic frowned, searching for the word he was trying to say. After all, his was a more simple minded breed and sometimes he simply couldn't remember the words he was searching for at all. He didn't really practice them all that much, either, considering his feelings on his current human and kin.

"Sentence! Say sentence. Words together, in sentence, like that. You try." Frezic nudged the other draconic again, quite excited now that he seemed as if he were finally getting it. He'd never gotten the chance to teach another being, much less another draconic, anything before, so perhaps the novelty of this encounter was exciting him more than it would normally. Regardless, he was now quite determined that the makiyan continue his practice right now, rest be damned.