[audio; open] dated Saturday 9 April

[swatwithdragons]

The dragon eggs down on the beach are going to hatch soon, but too many of them aren't going to survive past the first few days. We need volunteers on who'll take them to help them survive

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[action]

[tenuefarfalla]

[Cho takes a shower and actually gets dressed in under an hour. New personal best, post-injury. She needs a little time to rest before she starts making lunch, and checking the network to try and learn more about the city is probably a good way to spend fifteen minutes while she recovers from the heat.

Of course, then she gets to 'dragon eggs' and she's not hungry any more.

She heads around to the entrance to the apartment and, overcoming the niggling feeling that she shouldn't bother him, raises her hand to knock on the door.]

Himura-san?

[action forever]

[swatwithdragons]

[Sefton jumps at the sound, turning to give Lance a deer-in-the-headlights look. What? Who’s that? WHAT DO?]

[polarisation]

[ Dammit. He whispers. ]

It's Cho. Go answer the door.

[ This could go all kinds of wrong. ]

[tenuefarfalla]

[Cho just waits and fidgets. Maybe he's too busy to talk right now. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to her. Maybe he's not even broadcasting from anywhere in the building. She should probably go start lunch. Definitely. Except she doesn't, she raises her hand and prepares to knock again.

Maybe he just didn't hear her?]

[swatwithdragons]

Cho? [It’s a quiet repetition, and he gives Lance a severely uncertain look as he sets the comm aside, stands, and moves toward the door. Even when he gets there, Sefton’s still giving him that look. Then he finally pays the door some attention and pulls it open.] … Yes?

[polarisation]

[ He would give Sefton a flat look back, but it doesn’t work properly through the worried little frown. It turns into a facepalm at the greeting, and he hisses slightly. Don’t be so rude, Sefton. ]

[tenuefarfalla]

[At the best of times Cho can't read things like sarcasm, or passive aggression, or condescension, or any other subtler social cues, and this is not the best of times, because she's humming with excitement. Her concentration is wholly engaged elsewhere. She opens her mouth to say something polite and apologize for bothering him--]

You have baby dragons?

[Oops.]

[swatwithdragons]

[That... is not what he expected to be greeted with when he opened the door. He recognizes the young woman, at least, from when he would stop by from work for lunch and sometimes look out into the yard to see someone with Dragonair. But what’s she doing here? There’s a small pause of hesitant confusion, and he gives a small headshake.] Not here, no.

[He can’t help it when he glances back to Lance, a small hint of panic in his eyes. What?]

[polarisation]

[ Dammit. Lance gestures at the comm, lifting his eyebrows. Explain what’s going on, Sefton. ]

[tenuefarfalla]

[Initial moment of excitement now passed, though not gone completely, Cho follows Waratu's glance over his shoulder and sees the boy with the blue hair sitting on the couch. Double oops.]

Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just--

[Which is why she should leave, but she still doesn't. She just stands on the other side of the threshold and looks slightly uncomfortable. She's being rude, but... baby dragons.]

Do you think maybe... I could see them... when they hatch?

[swatwithdragons]

[Sefton gives Lance a slight eyeroll before he turns back to listen to Cho. The effort he makes to not outright frown at her could almost be considered herculean, and eventually he moves to let her inside if she wishes.]

Some already have. Their mother is watching them, down on the beach, but they need help if they’re going to stay alive.

[polarisation]

[ Lance fidgets with his sleeve, giving a sort-of wave and then look down, as if shy more than uncomfortable. It’s not exactly how Sefton would react, but he didn’t want to make Cho uncomfortable or feel as if she had to leave just because ‘Sefton’ was there … especially because he wasn’t Sefton. He did shuffle a bit to the side to try and get out of her line of sight, so he could give cues to Sefton without being seen, a vain attempt if she steps into the room. ]

[tenuefarfalla]

[Cho comes inside, but she stays near the doorway, not wanting to impose herself any more than she already has simply by turning up.]

Maybe I could help?

[It's more a question than an offer, but she wants to. Her experience with caring for animals consists mostly of an abandoned kitten in a box next to her bed when she was very young, and a pair of alarm clocks set to wake her up every hour on the hour for two weeks so she could feed it milk with an eye dropper. It had died, but she'd been young then, and there hadn't been anyone to help her. She can help if someone shows her what to do, she's sure she can.]

You could teach me what to do?

[swatwithdragons]

That was generally the idea, yes. [He’s not being rude, especially by his own standards, simply hesitant and at the same time trying to pretend he’s Lance. Not nearly as easy in person as it is over the comm (as if that hadn’t already been hard, either).] But... when I say “help”, I mean bonding with them. Magically.

[He watches her reaction, trying to keep from automatically looking to Lance again. He can do this. Right?]

[tenuefarfalla]

...Oh.

[Cho tries not to look crestfallen and fails utterly. Of course. It's not like taking care of a litter of puppies. That must be why he looks uncomfortable. Because she's not the kind of person he needs help from and she just came bursting in all excitement and expectations and now she's put him in the awkward position of having to let her down.]

That makes sense. Dragons are magical, so they probably need someone who knows how to use that magic to take care of them.

[She's not going to pout. She's not going to let the corners of her mouth turn down. This is not a problem. She didn't have a dragon that needed her to take care of it yesterday, and she got along just fine.]

Could I-- Do you think I could still see them? Would that be all right?

[Even if she can't do anything for them, baby dragons!]

[polarisation]

[ Lance grimaces internally, not daring to do so outwardly, since he can’t make gestures behind Cho’s back with her still in the doorway like she is. He does, however, mumble, trying for the petulant teenager. ]

Don’t need magic to work with dragons.