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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 22:14:19 GMT -6
Endymion understood that it indeed was Morgan's attempt to get them to change the subject, so he graciously did so. The pair wandered down the main hallway, with the many rows of lantern lights going past. Morgan wasn't ready to start the difficult process of digging up rocks again, so they stopped at one of the little tables that lined the way, the first one with enough room on top of it and with a light strategically placed above it so that Morgan could see. Endymion sat on top of a tool chest nearby, and Morgan opened up their backpack to pull out the rocks that they had collected last time but not cracked open yet. Then, they grabbed the chisel and the brush and tweezer set out to work on the stones with them. "Let m-me know when you get thirsty or hungry, Endymion?" They half-asked him, giving him a look.
[70]
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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 22:40:15 GMT -6
Endymion nods, and then almost catlike, stretches his front legs on the huge toolbox that lined the wall of the main hallway of the mining area that they had chosen to start at. Morgan realized that he had gotten... Bigger. Taller. It must have been a slow thing, and they must not have realized it right away or else they would have said something before. "Endymion... You're growing." Morgan said, perhaps a little stupidly.
Endymion sits back up, and looks over himself for a moment. "I'm sure that is right. I won't be young forever. No one ever is." He says, cleverly. Morgan frowns, chuckling. "W-well, I guess not." They said. Then, they looked over the rocks that they had laid down on the table, trying to find the weirdly heavy one from the last time they were here. They located it with ease after picking up a few of them.
[71]
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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 22:52:42 GMT -6
Morgan was not sure about the growth rates of draconics. Vixie hadn't grown much since the day Morgan had met her. On the other hand, Endymion was growing like a weed. They figured that it probably wasn't entirely a physical process for them. Perhaps they aged as old as they felt. Morgan had seen Vixie's 'grandpa' once or twice before, whenever he would sometimes fly her back to the mansion. He didn't look old enough to be anyone's grandpa, let alone extra-great grandfather. It would perhaps make sense that Vixie still felt much like a child, and Endymion felt like he needed to grow up to keep up with Morgan's troubles. It did give them a pang of guilt, however.
Morgan begins chipping away at the carrier rock, wondering what they were going to find in the stone when they finally got that rough exterior all chipped away. Mining certainly wasn't their favorite activity, that was for certain.
[72]
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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 23:00:15 GMT -6
Morgan's hands were perhaps not rough enough to do this for long periods of time, and it certainly wasn't really their style. However, spending time out here with Endymion in a productive way was going to be acceptable. Perhaps they'd even go out for longer periods in the mines back at the Labs someday. However, today, they were just going to do as much as they could, and then perhaps try to work with Endymion on a few important things before he got older. They hoped that they would have time to teach him as a youngster, because they knew how odd it was to teach some of the elder individuals they knew of when they got a little... Well, wiser and more arrogant both.
The carrier stone was another of those really hard and difficult ones, but soon enough the chips were beginning to come off and onto the counter.
[73]
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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 23:21:08 GMT -6
Endymion watches as his human chips away with their agile hands and strange tools at the stone that he was very sure contained metal, because he could practically feel it singing in there. Or at least that was what he liked to call it. Perhaps someday he'd let the human know about how he could tell where metal was, though only sometimes. He wasn't sure if it was something he could completely control or not. For now, though, he'd just watch. He lays down on top of the toolbox he is sitting on stretches out. He'd been getting little achey feelings in his bones for a while now. Growing Pains! Morgan had said, and he believed it, especially since he had noticed himself growing a bit, too. Putting on length in legs, he felt so gangly! He nearly tripped all over himself all the time. Endymion wasn't sure how big he would get in the future, but he was already to Morgan's waist, when he had at first only been up to Morgan's knees.
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Post by Morgan on Sept 4, 2020 23:27:37 GMT -6
Morgan seemed a little concerned that he had grown. That was when he got an idea- to ask a question. "Morgan?" He says, his voice a little chirpy. "W-what is it?" Morgan asked, still chipping away at the rock. Endymion couldn't help but be amused by how humans had such delicate little hands that could make useful and beautiful things that he would love to have in his hoard. "How long does it take for humans to grow up?" He asked. He hadn't thought about that before. "You said that twelve was about halfway through childhood so..."
Morgan continued chipping away at the tough carrier stone on the outside of the metal that Endymion knew was there. "It depends on who you ask. Some say that adulthood is at p-puberty, which is between 13 and 16 depending on who you ask." They said. "I disagree. Children are usually emancipated f-from their parents, at 18."
[75]
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Post by Jack on Sept 5, 2020 0:01:09 GMT -6
How cool! Two kinds of crystals!
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 0:19:38 GMT -6
Endymion nods. "What are humans like at eighteen, to make them suddenly an adult?" He asks, curiously. Morgan laughs. "Well, they d-don't know anything and generally have just gotten out of high-school. So not much. Honestly t-they are not really mentally done developing then either." Morgan says.
"When then?" Endymion asks. Morgan continues to chip away at the rock, and finally, the chip a sliver off that shows the silver ore hiding beneath it. Endymion is quite proud when he sees it. The human was quite surprised. "You told me th-this was going to be here, right?" Morgan asked him. Endymion nods. They continued working on the rock for a moment. "Technically, s-studies are pointing to twenty five, but honestly, I think i-it is probably different for everyone." They said. "I've seen some people slide back and act like kids as older adults, even."
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 12:39:46 GMT -6
Endymion nods, quietly, for a moment, and thinks. He wonders, suddenly, how old his human is. "Morgan, how old are you?" He asks, his voice a little unsure. He had seen plenty of 'old people' while being out at the lab's city, and of course he was not entirely sure what made them appear 'old'. It did seem that a lot of them tended to be wrinkly, or grey in fur color, so he was sure that Morgan wasn't 'elderly', but that was all he really knew for sure. The human works on the rock a little more frantically now, carefully removing bits of rock. It was pretty obvious that they still weren't quite used to doing this, so their hands were already shaking.
"I'm twenty-one." Morgan says. "Kinda an arbitrary age, b-but it is the age where most societies expect you to be able to make some of the m-more important decisions." Of course, it was a bit of a Euphemism.
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 12:44:15 GMT -6
As soon as the human was able to get the silver out of the carrier stone the rest of the way, they took their shaky hands and put them in their lap for a moment, trying to steady them. The silver piece was then put into their backpack, and the rest of the rocks were put into there as well. Morgan closed up the backpack with all of their tools and such now inside, and they stood and turned at about the same time to look at Endymion. "I don't know h-how well I can do this all in one stretch, like last time. So I-I brought a few things for you to use to learn. Would you be okay with that, Endymion?" Morgan said, soft smile on their face.
Endymion stands up from his position on the large tool box that was along the wall and then hops down. "Sure."
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 12:46:52 GMT -6
"First things first, we n-need to go to a darker area. I eventually would like you t-to be able to see in the dark well." Morgan said. "It would b-be useful." At this, the pair walked to one of the darker parts of the cave, and then into a pitch black area. At this, Morgan turns off their flashlight, and plunges them into pitch darkness. They put the flashlight in their pocket. "I know you can't see anything in t-the pitch black right now, but sooner or later your eyes will adjust, t-today." They decided.
Endymion didn't particularly -like- being in the pitch black, but he understood the idea, and didn't complain. Instead, he tried to feel for Morgan's existence so hard that they mostly focused on their breathing. It made him feel safer. What they were going to do now, poor Endymion had no idea.
[79] - [Start of 'Nightvision']
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 12:52:12 GMT -6
Now that they were in pitch darkness, Morgan knew that it was time to go on to the next thing they wanted to teach him. "N-now, I have the first thing I wanted to teach you." They said. They pulled a pseudo-harness, technically not useful right now save for just this type of lesson, and they held it out, using their own hands to guide them to Endymion's maw (which they could obviously not see theirself). "T-this is a harness. S-someday, if you grow up with large enough wings, I'd like to teach you to fly. It will be much easier to do if you are large enough to offer me a lift. W-would that be something you'd be willing to do?" Morgan said, a little worried.
Endymion nods in the dark, but then realizes that Morgan could not see that. "Yeah, sure. So what is the 'harness' for?"
[80] - [Start of 'Tack Up']
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 13:33:17 GMT -6
This was said in a fashion and tone that even in the dark and without Morgan being able to see Endymion's face, they could tell he had no idea what a harness was. It was still pitch black in the area where they were, so Morgan knew he couldn't see it, either. "A harness would allow me to hold onto you b-better. I'm sure you've noticed I'm not very strong. However, a harness is a lightweight piece of leather that might allow me to hold on. I-it will feel weird to wear it for the first few times, though, until you get used to it." They explained. They could hear and feel Endymion sniff the leather of the makeshift harness. "T-this one is just a training harness, b-but if you get used to it now, It'll be better when you get the real deal as an adult." Morgan says.
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 15:51:16 GMT -6
Endymion does sniff the leather strap, which is something Morgan would normally have done to train a critter to wear stuff, and get them used to it, but what they were really hoping would happen was that his eyes would start to adjust to the light. Of course, Morgan could help out a little bit with their own flashlight, but they wanted Endymion to be able to see in the dark much better and that would take actual work down in the darkness of the mines.
"Alright, so if it is okay, I'll start to put it on you. I'll h-have to touch along your side and such to be able to see where to put the straps." Morgan explained. Endymion gives another nod, remembers that Morgan couldn't see it, and then replies- "Sure, go ahead." Permission now given, Morgan goes to touch his flank to figure out where to put the straps.
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Post by Morgan on Sept 5, 2020 15:54:55 GMT -6
After finding Endymion's flank, Morgan runs their hands along him to find his legs, and then runs their hands along the leather strap to try to find the loops. Endymion seems to move his head to follow the noise of it, and finally, he seems to begin to see a small amount, basically just movement, in the darkness. The image was really blurry, but he was trying. After a moment of watching the large shape that was Morgan fumble with the loops, he reaches out with his paw and paws the fuzzy shape of the loop into Morgan's hand, to get it there. Morgan notices, and sort of stumbles in the dark, but keeps a hold of the loop. "Oh, did you find t-the loop for me?" Morgan asks.
Endymion nods, and then speaks- "Yeah. Is that the arm loop?" He asks.
"Yup, w-will you lift your leg?"
[83]
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