[Poppy]

"Oh?" Ceral listened intently to Ivy, letting his guard down just a bit as he watched her. All of these new things he was experiencing were just weird. Flying dragons, dragon-napped... Ceral's life was pretty bland until he'd finally been caught. He was raised with his other siblings until they could all hunt for themselves, and after that they were on their own. It was an uncommon custom, as Ceral had learned most stayed with their kits even after they could hunt and whatnot. It hadn't been too bad, but Ceral could recall a few times when he felt more than a little bitter about having been left, such as the times when he was nearly eaten, or captured; and somehow, he'd managed to evade it all. It was by some miracle, honestly.

"I mean it looks nice but..." Ceral trailed off, wrinkling his nose and shrugging, not willing to go on about the real subject matter at hand, of why these enclosures were an actual thing. Ivy was nice, but Ceral hoped to just make friends or something. He'd only seen a cave dwelling dragon actually carrying a few times in his life, and he had no clue how it worked. Ceral was pulled from his light stupor when Ivy pushed at him and rushed into one of the trees. He gave chase, jumping at the tree in a lame attempt to climb but letting out an annoyed sound when he got no further than a few feet from the ground. He wasn't built for trees, but seeing Ivy so easily scale it made him envious.

He ultimately hopped back down onto the ground, idly circling the tree and glancing up towards Ivy. "Okay, well, I could still beat you at swimming," he joked casually, tail furling before it swished gently over the earth below.

[labprotocol]

Ivan smiled at Nym. He could tell he was a little nervous. "Well there's only forest seeders here right now and with my first pregnancy the gestation period had been fairly normal for my kind. I'm expecting this one to be similar. Both Ky and Ivy have produced clutches of about twelve. Which is a little more than my kind is used to... but you're fairly big." He tried to give him a comforting look. "So where are you from? I've been here for about a year, but before that I'd lived in the Valhalla enclosure, but I didn't really get along with any of the seeders there." He laughed. "I was pretty suborn and I scratched one up pretty bad."

Ky paused rubbing Ivan's stomach. "What?"

Ivan ignored Ky, focusing on the nervous dragon before him. "Before that I'd lived in a lake near a resort." He huffed. "Should have known I'd be seen sooner or later." Ivan rubbed Nym's shoulders hoping to loosen them a bit. "It's not that bad you know..."

--------------
"Hmm..." Reva frowned. "You might be right and Ky's a little pushover. Ivy too honestly. Maybe we'll need to introduce another seeder just to make sure things get heated up. The others will become more aggressive in their courting if they think there is competition. Nym will have to put out eventually." She sighed. "I thought Avalon would be good though because according to his master he's still a virgin and forest dweller's have a smaller clutch than some of the others. Plus their both beautiful dragons. Their children would make good pets. If we threw him into the Valhalla enclosure his clutch would end up study little warriors. Good body guards, but I don't think that's what his master had in mind." Pretty exotic dragons always sold for more than ones with practical uses.

[labprotocol]

Ivy slipped down. He was so cute. She slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. "Bet you could," she breathed into his hair before letting go. She didn't want to scare him off, but she wanted to make sure she smelled like him so that Ky would very well know that Ceral was definitely off limits. That was if he even wanted her... either way though she wasn't letting Ky breed him. She like Ceral. She blushed and quickly said. "Hey there's some caves here, probably very different from your own, they don't go very far and they aren't that dark, but..."

[Poppy]

Ceral shuddered at her breath, his face heating up as he eased away from her when he pulled away. Close contact was new. God, it felt like everything was new here. Different dragons had different traditions. Isolation might as well have been the core of the cave dwellers; Ceral knew there was some kind of mating ritual that was done between cave dwellers, but he'd never stuck around one long enough to experience it. He was sure it was probably some unusual dance, or maybe even fighting, but still... he wasn't looking for a family, he was just looking for a quiet life in the caves, eating fish all day and sleeping afterwards. With kits, that would mean he'd actually have to share food. Gross.

"Mmh, can you swim?" Ceral asked cheekily, giving a sly grin as he scanned the horizon. He hadn't explored all of the enclosure yet, and he'd yet to find any caves, but he was sure he could pick some out if he went on the hunt. They weren't hard to find, not for him, and any cave was better than no cave. At least this enclosure had caves, that he could be grateful for. "But we could go look at them," Ceral finished excitedly. He didn't know much about forest dragons, but it'd be boring in the cave alone now if Ivy couldn't swim. Isolation was his thing, sure, but he didn't want to leave her alone either. "Small or big cave doesn't matter, anything works."

[Flayme]

"You're right... I don't think that's what Mr. Fiske had in mind." Han nodded thoughtfully. "I believe he chose Nym himself for being a rather attractive companion dragon, I believe that's what he's hoping will be bred."

Quietly, Han tapped his pen on his chin, watching the dragons interact with one another. According to the Fiske family, Nym had always been a rather even tempered dragon... So him acting up like this was obviously strange, and probably due to the fact that he was being pushed out of any comfort zone he'd ever been in, especially if the snarky, skittish thing was a virgin.

"I'd give him a few days... If he or Ceral aren't showing any signs of interest in Ivy or Ky, then we'll introduce an more aggressive seeder. Less elegant dragon kits are better than no kits at all."

--------

"Valhalla enclosure?" Nym looked a little confused. "So they have more than one of these habitat... Things?" To be honest, all of this was sounding rather terrifying. Yes, he was larger than Ivan, but twelve eggs... That still sounded like a lot. He really had no idea how many his own kind were supposed to carry, he'd never been told. He'd been separated from his carrier and seeder before he'd even hatched, so his knowledge on any of his kind was somewhat limited... It was hard to think of being in here as long as Ivan had... A year seemed like a painfully long time. Imagining the types of dragons that must have lived in Valhalla for a being as sweet looking as Ivan to scratch one up was also nerve wracking. Suddenly Nym was grateful that he had been placed in Avalon, as so far it seemed peaceful.

"And you lived in a lake..." Nym relaxed slightly as Ivan rubbed at his back. He couldn't help but lean into it a bit. Maybe Ivan was right... And this wasn't so bad. He could get used to company like this. His human masters had never tried to sit down and actually talk to him like this. "I have never been a part of the wild I'm afraid... I hail from the north where my species is native, but was born in captivity. I was sold into my first master's home before I was even hatched." He shrugged slightly, letting his head loll slightly as he relaxed further. "So this forest... Is quite warmer than I'm used to."

[labprotocol]

"Well I can paddle," Ivy laughed and led the way to the hillside with the caves. "I can't breathe underwater though not like Ivan." Thinking of Ivan made her think about the little pool and the waterfall that flowed into it from a high cave. She bet Ceral would love that. She skipped forward. "Come on." As they drew nearer however Ivy caught fresh signs of her brother and frowned. She didn't want Ceral anywhere near Ky, but as they moved closer she could see that Ky and Ivan were sitting by the pool and some other little smudge. Her nose twitched at an unfamiliar smell. She looked down at Ceral. He didn't seem to have noticed the others, but her eyesight was really good. She hesitated for a second, but she really wanted to swim with Ceral. She'd exaggerated her inability. Ivan had given her a couple lessons when she'd been courting him. She'd never be elegant. Not like Ivan or, she gave Ceral another appreciative look, Ceral. Instead of going around the pool Ivy started moving right towards it. She quickly pulled Ceral into an embrace, pressing her scaled breasts against his chest and rubbing her face against his neck to mark him as "hers." She barely thought about it it was natural and barely took a few moments. "Now they'll leave you alone," she whispered before letting go and heading back toward the pool.

[Poppy]

"I guess you gotta start somewhere," Ceral teased, snorting at the mention of being able to paddle. "That's alright, I can't-" Ceral paused at the name. "Who's Ivan..?" Maybe one of the others here? Ceral would probably recognize the face, but he'd been too bitter (and still was, really) to give his name out to anyone in the beginning. As it was now, Ivy was the only one here who knew his name, and he wasn't sure he wanted to give that to every dragon or whoever that he met. Ivy noticed the group of three before Ceral had, but when he did he frowned some. More people, that likely meant more introductions, right? Maybe they could just do their own thing. It wasn't that Ceral hated people, but rather...

That was kind of a lie. He hated people. Ivy had caught his interest, half because he'd gotten tired of sitting around in his corner of the enclosure.

The cave dragon gasped in surprise at Ivy's contact, stilling momentarily and biting his lip when she spoke. So marking was a thing here. Ceral wasn't too sure he was totally comfortable with the idea of seemingly being claimed, but he wasn't up for protesting either, so he just let it happen. It wasn't bothering anyone for now, and he was curious if it would actually do anything. He didn't have any plans in the near future to mate, so maybe the scent would wear off or something. "Are they like... bad?" Ceral hummed lightly, able to recall the face of one of the dragons nearby. The other two were new to him. "They're just talking." His brows furrowed as he observed them briefly, soon following quietly after Ivy to the pool of water.

[labprotocol]

"Well he's definitely a virgin unless he was hiding things from Mr. Fiske. The other one might be too," she grinned at the purple dragon's little blush. "Lets give them a month."

-------------

Ky's eyebrows had been bent in concern since Ivan mentioned Valhalla and he finally blurted out, "What did the bastards do?"
Ivan glared back at Ky. He was trying to comfort Nym. It wasn't the time to bring up controversial situations. "Nothing," he hissed. "They were just jerks." Honestly they'd been a little overly persistent and had certain cultural ideas of how a carrier should act.


Ky growled and nipped Ivan's neck, letting him know that their conversation wasn't over.

"Valhalla one of the other enclosures. It's a few miles from here. Honestly," Ivan frowned "if you're from the north it probably would have suited you better." Ky growled under his breath at the thought.

"Physically at least," Ivan rushed to say squeezing Nym's shoulder to let him know that he was wanted. "It is much colder there. It is supposed to mimic the arctic." Ivan shivered. He hadn't relished swimming in glacial water, but at least the oafs couldn't swim. "But hopefully you'll get used to the heat in no time and the water's cool."

[labprotocol]

"Ivan is the pregger water dragon." Ivy said nonchalantly.

She blushed when Ceral asked if they were bad. "They're not... bad. I'd just prefer hanging out one on one. The red gold one," she pointed to Ky who was currently wrapped around Ivan. Of course. She rolled her eyes. She wasn't jealous. Ivan and her were still friends, but they'd never really been mates. "he's my clutch-mate." Looking at Ceral she flushed even deeper. No she didn't need to be jealous of Ky when Ceral was so much more delectable than Ivan. She was starting to think that maybe they could even be more than just seeder and carrier. "He's the one you'll want to stay away from though. He's a seeder and as soon as he notices you he'll never stop till you promise to bare his young." A bit of an exaggeration... maybe, but she still remembered how angry he was that she'd gotten Ivan first. He might try to take Ceral in retribution.

[Flayme]

"Ah, a month... Right." Han rolled his eyes a bit. A month seemed excessive to the impatient man. The sooner these dragons bred, the sooner they could breed again... More kits, more happy dragon masters, more money... Pushing them too hard, too fast was only going to end in disappointment however, he had to admit.

"We'll give them a month, and then if they still aren't cooperative, then we'll introduce one of the more aggressive seeders from Valhalla." He said decidedly and scribbled on his clipboard once again.

--------

Nym smiled a bit. "I'm sure I'll become accustomed to Avalon sooner than later..." He said quickly. He didn't want to even suggest the thought of be thrust with more aggressive dragons, wether the habitat was more suited for him or not. He'd get by taking a dip to cool off every once in a while, he was sure.

"I like water, though I must say I'm not the most elegant when it comes to swimming. I'm afraid having feathers puts a hamper on moving anywhere very quickly in water... And I'm not most skilled at swimming in this form either." Nym continued and shifted his weight a bit as he gestured at himself. "I suppose flying is more of my thing..." Leaping and gliding from cliff to canyon, through snow and over rocks was what Nym was practically designed to do, not that he had ever done much of that at all before.. He supposed he had been rather lucky to be tolerated indoors at home most of the time. "Not that I expect to be able to travel very high here." He glanced upwards. He was positive that there had to be some sort netting or barrier to stop them from simply flying out... That would be too easy.

[Poppy]

"Oh." Ceral said lowly, eyeing the dragon for a moment as he considered his appearance. He knew all dragons were different, and by the way this Ky was acting, he knew that was his clutch, but he was more curious about how many the prior was carrying. A different dragon, surely. Ceral wasn't even totally sure about how many his own kind could carry at one time. Despite being raised in the wild, he'd been alone most of the time, and hadn't learned much in the way of breeding because it had never been a concern to him. Maybe he'd go over and properly introduce himself later..? Not that he truly wanted to, but he wanted as many people on his side as he could get.

Ceral smirked at Ivy as he slunk into the water, diving under once before popping back up, his curly hair soaked now. "Really? That sounds impressive, actually. That he would go on for that long about someone having his clutch." The beginnings of slight webbing grew between Ceral's fingers, making it much easier for him to swim through the water. He only wished there was a river or something so he could just torpedo right down it. "You've got the lovely bunch here," Ceral joked, raising his eyebrows at Ivy and nodding in a mock manner.

[labprotocol]

Ky frowned when Nym glanced up. He could guess what the carrier was thinking. "Don't," he growled. Ivan elbowed him in the ribs and Ky sighed. "They'll clip your wings if you try." Plus he'd never get past the electric dome. Ky's shoulders twitched with phantom pain. Another reason to hate Ivy. They'd kept her wings. Hers had been "pretty." Ky slipped between Ivan and Nym and looked straight into Nym's glacial blue eyes. "Promise you won't go higher than the walls."

[labprotocol]

Ivy shed her wings and jumped into the pool. Water splashed over the side as she paddled over to Ceral. Sure she knew breaststroke, sort of, but paddling was easier. She wrapped an arm around Ceral pulling him tight against her front. "Impressive huh?" she teased. "Personally I think you'd look much better baring my own clutch." She slid a hand over where his womb would be.

[Flayme]

Nym flinched a bit at Ky's suddenly serious tone. It was a little bit alarming. They'd clip his wings? Why bother if they had a barrier to keep them in? He didn't understand humans. He couldn't comprehend why they had to be so savage, and brash... They took and took and took, and never seemed to give back to anybody.

"I- I won't." Nym nodded firmly. In fact, he was rather afraid to even try flying at all now. He didn't like the idea of being restricted that way... But it was better than losing his wings all together. He couldn't help but glance to where Ky's wings should have been... He got the distinct feeling that the dragon knew exactly what he was talking about. "I don't think I'd dare to try anyway." He said honestly. "I've learned, with humans, it's better to obey... At least eventually. I sure gave the crew that brought me here a hell of a time." He grinned. "I'm sure none of them are particularly pleased with me at the moment."

[Poppy]

((Ugh gotta go to bed but thanks again for letting me join guys! This is fun haha))

Being in the water made Ceral miss his own caves. They were small and dark, the only lights being some of the weird bugs and creatures that resided in the cave with him, but it had still been home. He was just waiting to get out of here, and then to get away from the master he so hated. It was his fault for getting caught, really, but he'd never openly admit how he hadn't been careful that day. He missed being his own person, and definitely missed not being out in the wild. This habitat mimicked the wild but it was no wild, open world at all.

Ceral laughed awkwardly at Ivy's advance, tipping his head a little as he retained his sheepish smile. "Ah, I dunno..." Mating had never been his plan, but now he was starting to realize that his original plan probably wouldn't work at all. Waiting it out was an option, but he wasn't sure how that would go. Ceral closed his eyes and sighed. "I've never thought about baring a clutch. Cave dwellers are loners." And besides, he wasn't even sure if he'd be adequate enough. "Just look at how big that Ivan guy is - I don't know how many my kind can even bare."

[labprotocol]

(Night)
Ky laughed in the dying light, relaxed now that he was sure that Nym wouldn't try to escape.

Ivan yawned. Ky stood and helped his pregnant mate up. He smiled and rubbed their foreheads together before looking back down at Nym. He reached out a hand to Nym and smiled. "So what's your story city dweller?" He hoped that he could get the dragon talking. Hopefully Nym would trust them enough to join them in the nesting cave for the night. He didn't want the dragon to spend his first night here all alone and he had some more selfish reasons to get the male into his nest. Hopefully he wouldn't be too opposed to snuggling. Though if he was from the north he might get to warm snuggled together. And he was a city dragon. Did city dragons sleep in nests?

--------------------

Ivy released Ceral. "The humans would know and they wouldn't put you in here if they thought we were incompatible." She flipped onto her back and watch the faint shimmer of electricity hovering between the enclosure and the dimming sky. "Ky and I.... we both produce around twelve eggs," she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, but couldn't see his expression from her viewpoint. "If you don't want to carry a clutch though I can make sure Ky leaves you alone."

[Flayme]

((Goodnight, Poppy!))

Nym blinked at Ky's offered hand a couple times, hesitant for a moment, but then ended up grasping it and hoisting himself up. "My story..." He chuckled softly, and then released Ky's grasp. "Well... I suppose I've told you most of it." He shrugged slightly. "Bred and hatched with humans, passed around in my youth to a few different families. I was purchased by a Mr. Fiske most recently to be the so said 'guard dog' over his two children... Not that they ever needed me. They were, and still are feisty young things." He smiled fondly. "Human children are pleasant when they're young.... I fear that my two have tired me now though, they've outgrown me- Which is why I'm here to serve as something for my master now, as far as I'm aware... But," He shrugged a second time, and then moved to follow Ky and Ivan, wherever they were going. "It was nice while it lasted."

[labprotocol]

Ky used to have a nest in the tree branches like Ivy, but Ivan was too big for that now and Ky fretted that Ivan might fall out and... well now they had a nest in one of the caves a little ways from the pool. Ky help Ivan to their cave. It was fairly small, but it was warm and bright. Bits of luminescent rocks were embedded in the walls like a night sky. In the middle of the cave was a large nest made of dried fragrant flowers, blankets, and soft grass bedding. The best part though was that their nesting cave had a door, so they had some rare privacy away from the humans ever watching eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ivan yawned. "It must have been hard to leave them, the children." Ivan glanced down and shifted out of Ky's grip. "I'm tired," he said as he slid into the far corner of the nest and pulled a blanket tight around his shoulders. He was facing the wall.

Ky frown. Then turned to Nym. "Um... would you like to stay the night with us?"

[labprotocol]

After a moment. Ivy got out of the pool and quickly said, "Night Ceral. See you tomorrow," before rushing off to her nest in the canopy. It was a little early in their relationship to be sharing a nest and frankly Ivy was a little embarrassed about being rejected, even if she been half joking about breeding the violet dragon. Her face burned as she climbed up into her nest for the night. Growing up in the Facility she'd been taught to be forward, maybe a little too forward. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping that her blunder hadn't ruined their new relationship. Though even if he didn't want to see her tomorrow she already had his scent memorized. He wouldn't be able to escape her notice ever again and the enclosure, while vast, wasn't large enough to stay hidden forever.

[Flayme]

"Stay with you?-" Nym glanced around, he was only half dipped into the smallish cave, though it appeared to be a little bit roomier on the inside than it did from the outside. "Uh..." Nym hesitated for a moment. Ivan didn't seem to be protesting the idea of him being there, and he had to admit that the idea spending the night out in the middle of the enclosure alone somewhere wasn't very appealing. "Sure. I would appreciate that." He finally nodded. "I can't say that I really have ever slept in anything quite like this before though..." He brushed one hand up against the sparkling interior of the cave. It seemed so much more rugged and natural than the man made structures he'd been paraded through his entire life... Though, really this was supposedly man made as well. He glanced back to Ky, and offered him a soft smile. "Thank you. For tolerating me, I mean."