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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 12:11:54 GMT -6
A twang of panic threatened to cross the man's heart, but he resisted. The tiny beast couldn't have gotten too far. After making sure the tree was clear of the creature, he turned his attention to the nearby flora, scanning them for movement. Xentus' pointed ears were focused forward, straining to hear any of those distinct giggles. His shadow loomed over the foliage, scaring off small bugs from the underbrush. And that's what sparked a cat-sized dragon to come barreling out of the bushes, scampering after a large beetle. The leopard flinched back in surprise, a quiet 'hey!' escaping his lips. "Sequinn!", he called after composing himself, "Here Sequinn!" His calls were followed up with some tongue-clicks to help garner the tiny dragon's attention, which helped him find success. The faeron's long crest lifted high into the air as it skidded to a stop and turned its head to the noisy man.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 13:00:31 GMT -6
The dragon was conflicted. Should it continue the hunt or see what the man was making noise for? A few more tongue clicks seemed to sway the creature to check out what the leopard was offering. And the faeron seemed to light up (literally) at the sight of the berries in the man's extended palm. The light radiating off the creature's body could get a lot brighter than this, he'd seen it before when it was particularly excited. Something he could put to use against something looking to attack it. A bright flash of light might disorient an adversary for a bit of breathing room. The leopard's lips lifted into a smile at the thought of such tricks in combat, but also at the fact the creature jumped up and scrapped itself onto his arm. He hid his wince behind his toothy grin as the creature dug in with its claws. How endearing.. Even if it only wanted food.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 14:21:34 GMT -6
His arm made for the perfect perch for the faeron while it nipped at the berries, at the expense of a few tufts of fur. Its various long tendrils and tail wrapped about his forearm in order to steady itself, though it didn't quite need to put in so much effort to stay on. Its feet were.. Sticky, in a way. Something like a gecko, able to cling effortlessly to whatever surface was underfoot. Though this effect was likely weaker on fur. A clawed hand tentatively reached up to stroke the faeron's back as it ate. Sequinn seemed to like the feel of its scales being stroked - it lifted its spine as the man ran his hand down its length. "Well aren't you cute?", Xentus cooed, "Good little Quinn." Snack time lasted only a few minutes. Sequinn seemed to be sated after only a couple of berries were eaten. Now the active little dragon was looking around for the next thing to clamber upon
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 14:42:48 GMT -6
Ah.. Should he have brought a leash or something? The man's hand pressed down a little more firmly on the faeron's shoulders in an attempt to dissuade it from jumping away so quickly. Its wings shuffled uncomfortably from the extra pressure. An unhappy grey side-eye stared up at the leopard's face. "Settle down, little one", the man cooed gently, lifting a bit of the pressure while maintaining a somewhat firm grip on the tiny beast. "Let us play about the flowerbed, hm? Xentus thinks you may like digging about the dirt", he added. The faeron hasn't yet shown to be the cleanly type, so he wasn't actually certain if it would dig or not, but it was worth a try. Sequinn seemed to pipe down just enough for the short walk to the overgrown plots of dirt the man called his flowerbeds. He kneeled down and let go of the dragon, pointing it to the ground.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 16:23:19 GMT -6
Sequinn was less than thrilled by the offer. The faeron's tiny claws needlessly dug into the man's arm, this ting bringing forth an actual wince of pain. "Taking a liking to being held then, Quinn?", the man asked through his grit teeth, "Xentus gets it. But please, ease up on the claws little one.." The faeron did no such thing, unfortunately. And it might've just been his mind betraying him, but he could've sworn he felt those claws dig in deeper. The tiny beast fluttered its wings to further solidify its protest of the ground, at which point the leopard tried to offer it a resting spot on his shoulder instead. He'd be needing his arms if he intended to get any actual work done here. Thankfully, Sequinn seemed to accept this alternative offer and clambered up onto the man's bare shoulders. The tiny daggers that made up the beast's claws felt no better here, but it was bearable.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 16:30:49 GMT -6
As he expected, the dragon first attempted to make sense of the tangle of cords that the man called hair. The dreadlocks were nip-worthy, looking like a bunch of white snakes. As long as the beast didn't pull or try to rip his hair to shreds, Xentus was just fine with this exchange. "Stay put, alright?", he murmured over to the dragon as he gave it a quick glance. His words went unacknowledged. He gingerly shook his head and scanned the flowerbed, trying to find the clusters of snapdragons he'd planted a while ago. The vibrant clusters of flowers stood out well amid the weeds, though the blossoms seemed a little small, likely due to the competition from the uninvited flora. It wasn't the worst looking, honestly. The weeds offered some color variance and filled out the gaps between the flowers he planted. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go through and fully weed the soil out. Definitely not because he was feeling lazy.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 16:39:40 GMT -6
The dragon clambering up on his neck and shoulders was awfully distracting. It had managed to get itself somewhat tangled in his hair, and honestly with all those tendrils and whiskers, he should've expected as much to happen. The leopard took a pause from his weeding to pluck the faeron's wispy appendages from his dreads. Sequinn didn't seem to mind much, only tugging on herself and his hair as it tried to use his hands and arms as a new perch. "Quinn, you've found yourself stuck and yet you still try to move around. Hold still, yes?", the grumbled complaint came from the man as he blindly tried to free the beast. And as expected, the dragon was having none of it. Its tiny teeth came down upon the offending fingers to playfully nip and play. Or perhaps it was protesting his interference. It was difficult to tell. But soon enough, the tendrils were free, and the man resumed his weeding.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 16:44:11 GMT -6
The next point of interest for the faeron was the leopard's horns. The top of his head didn't seem to be off limits, and so it climbed up and attempted to perch on the single curved horn which rested on the man's forehead. The beast's tendrils now swayed in his face, tickling his cheeks and whiskers. He wasn't sure if it was the dragon's aim to be an annoyance, but it was beginning to succeed in its goals. "Quinn", the leopard grunted, "Settle yourself for more than two minutes." His complaint didn't reach the faeron's ears, unfortunately for him. He knew he was grumbling to grumble, and part of him enjoyed the playful energy of the beast if he was honest with himself. Vaguely reminded him of the little ling.. Though the ling-ling's fur was a lot more comfortable than the faerons tendrils and scales. He was no stranger to having a shoulder-pet. Or head-pet, in this case. Or.. Horn-pet?
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 16:50:04 GMT -6
The fact of the matter was simply that he was a jungle gym for small animals. For what few smaller beasts he owned, they generally seemed to enjoy his height and used his shoulders as perches. And he was ever thankful that the bigger beasts of his personal menagerie didn't get the wrong idea and try it out for themselves. Part of him did wonder what a tiny wiurn would look like.. Or a miniature Basantai. There were potions to both grow and shrink the lab-made creatures.. He gave it a brief moment of thought. A large faeron would be oddly terrifying. Large, energetic beasts were difficult ones to manage. If Sequinn was any larger, it would be so much more of a hassle to handle. As for a calmer, more tame creature.. A giant golem wouldn't be much more of a fascinating beast, but still an interesting prospect. He could picture himself riding one..
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 17:27:23 GMT -6
As if he didn't already have enough beasts to ride. A smirk rested on his muzzle as he mentally perused more entertaining upsized beasts. Embiggened pachee, perhaps? Large leaf-scatter? Giant dragon-oak? Wait, he actually had one of those. A smug chuckle escaped him. He'd need to teach Tetria how to accept a rider at some point. Riding around a giant dragon-oak around his garden was fun to think about. Might make doing some chores easier. Ah, that thought reminded him. His original plans for the faeron were to make them suitable for Haru to ride on. He even had little saddles for them and everything! A tiny fae riding atop a tiny fae-dragon was a mental image that he adored. Ah.. That plan wasn't buried, but it would be postponed for now. He had other plots that took priority, and the little dragon wouldn't mind either way, he supposed. Not that it knew of his plans for it anyway.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 17:42:53 GMT -6
No, it was a being that lived in the moment. It had no worries for the future and little thought about the past. Or so the man liked to imagine for the more.. Simple creatures in his care. A hum sounded from his throat as he wondered just how good of a combatant the faeron would be. Probably.. Not very. Which was fine, it would have it's uses as a support. Like a squire to a knight? Ah, he couldn't think of a good comparison. Not while there was a tail in his face. "Just.. Do not poop on Xentus, yes?", he quietly pleaded to the dragon. He wasn't a fan of getting pooped on. Not that it happened much, but when it did, it was messy, stinky, and overall unpleasant. His izer pooped on his once when he was simply trying to clean its cage. Not something he was looking to relive with a dragon.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 17:48:14 GMT -6
Reptilian poops were particularly pungent. Good fertilizer though. The man wasn't going to bother struggling with getting the faeron off him and onto another perch while he worked, and so he was only to rely on hope that gooseberries didn't work through its system too quickly. And so came the great idea of seeing if the dragon was hungry. Well, not because he wanted it to poop, but because he happened upon a carrot. Why was there a carrot in the flowerbed? Perhaps he'd never come to find out.. The stringy leaf-top of the root vegetable wasn't something he pair much attention to until he got his hands around it. The carrot pulled from the ground with ease, revealing a bright orange snack that anyone would enjoy - once the dirt was washed off. Faeron ate carrots, right? He wasn't exactly sure, but figured he'd offer it up to the beast regardless. The dirt was hastily brushed off and the top of the veggie was offered up to the beast nested in his hair.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 18:17:48 GMT -6
Sequinn gave the carrot a courtesy sniff, picking up mostly on the scent of dirt. The tiny dragon was quick to turn its nose away, displeased with this offering. "This one will take that as a no", the leopard assessed with a laugh, "Duly noted." The carrot was stashed away for him to eat later. Or perhaps to tell in the farmers market. Or to keep as animal feed. He wasn't quite sure what to do with a lone carrot yet, but it wasn't something he's strain his mind too much about. The leopard straightened himself out and let out a long exhale. The job here was nowhere close to being complete, though he did make good headway.. The snapdragon clusters were looking a lot neater in the area he did take the time to thin out the weeds. Between fussing with the faeron and getting absorbed in his thoughts, he wasn't quite sure how much time had passed, but it was looking about time for a break.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 24, 2021 18:23:37 GMT -6
And a break might just mean heading home and having some lunch. And contemplate whether or not he wanted to come back and work on the garden some more. A gardener's work was never complete anyway. His head swayed to and fro while he tried to come up with a decision. Sequinn wasn't a huge fan of all the movement, loosing quiet complaints as she backed off his hair and onto his shoulder. He could go and fetch Azzu, let him get a little sun. The red one was a lot more feisty than Sequinn. It was like a miniature version of Nazura, without the wings and flames. The comparison made him chuckle. Just moew to ponder on the way back home, he supposed. "This one thinks he did some good work for the morning, wouldn't you say Quinn?", the man asked the small dragon on his shoulder, glancing over at it.
> Exeunt Xentus and Sequinn (20)
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Post by Nadia on Jul 25, 2021 6:26:50 GMT -6
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