video; un: sherlockfreud

[prodigalmess]

[ Malcolm has a concerned look on his face when the video feed clicks on. ]

Uhh... So I discovered this in my bird's cage this morning.

[ The camera flips around to show a yellow and green parakeet in a cage. The bird chirps at the camera before Malcolm focuses on the egg next to her. Considering it's the size of Sunshine's entire body, there's no way it came out of her. ]

This is a dragon egg, right? How did it get in there?

[ He turns the camera back on himself and raises an eyebrow. ]

It keeps glowing red and emitting this low hum sound. Pretty sure I can't keep it. If I bring it outside though, is a dragon going to attack me for carrying an egg?

[ The giant beasts seem pretty territorial, especially when it comes to their young. He's got no intention of taking one on. ]

If you can't tell, I'm pretty out of my element here.

Comments

[prodigalmess]

I feel like I would have heard a dragon come in here. I'm not even sure if they could fit through a window, and I didn't have it open last night anyway.

[ He shrugs. ]

Do you think it got in here by magic? [ Malcolm doesn't entirely know how magic works. ] I can't leave it in there. Either Sunshine will end up destroying it or the dragon might eat her if it manages to get into my apartment somehow.

[blackscales]

[ There's a lot to unpack here.

Does he mean he has been indoors the entire time, and thus the dragon egg appeared perhaps while he slept? Curious, but not impossible. He isn't certain if the dragons here can shapechange as he does, but if they can? Quite a simple task/

Secondly, magic? Entirely possible. Uncertain why they'd both, but possible. However, most importantly: ]

Is sunshine... the bird?

[ Looks like a bird. It is a bird, yes? Just to be clear. ]

[prodigalmess]

Yeah. Sorry. [ That wasn't clear. ] I think I'm going to try putting the egg in the park or something and letting the dragons find it.

Do dragons exist where you come from?

[blackscales]

[ Oh, he's going to move it on his own?

Wrathion has brief, detailed mental images of this man carrying an egg in the open and being attacked by dragons trying to defend it. Are they like that here? Most creatures are defensive of their young. He wouldn't be surprised. Perhaps they'd let this... human? Probable human pass, if he is as the locals put it... blessed. Hmmm.

Anyway, dragons? Ah, yes. ]

There are, although the specifics appear to be different.

[prodigalmess]

[ He's... not sure what else to do? Malcolm doesn't love the idea of touching it or moving it with adult dragons prowling around, but he's not leaving it in his apartment. ]

What differences, if you don't mind me asking?

[blackscales]

[ Clearly the correct solution is to simply move and let the dragon take over your apartment! Silly to be so stubborn about it. The dragon's short term needs are more important, signed -- a dragon.

He gives a vague, imperious wave of his hand. ]

I have struggled to discern a clear pattern watching them so far. Where I am from, you can easily understand the type of dragon by its colouration. That tells you the flight it belongs to and the gifts it will carry.

[ Very simple. That simplicity comes of the dragons being manufactured for a purpose, of course. ]

[prodigalmess]

[ Seems like a biased opinion, but okay.

Malcolm nods. It does seem more complicated here. ]

Are some types more dangerous than others?

[blackscales]

[ What an interesting question! One that Wrathion has no particular interest in giving a straight answer to! ]

The more mature dragons are, of course, larger and more powerful. Each has a particular skill set -- pure strength, power over dreams, time, and so on. I would think each could be dangerous in their own unique ways were they so inclined.

[prodigalmess]

I didn't know they had psychological powers like that. I thought it was all fire breathing and such.

[ Again, really out of his element here. ]

Do you know what kind of powers the ones here have?

[blackscales]

[ Psychological? He wouldn't have put it that way, but he supposes he see where such a thought might have come from. Explaining the Emerald Dream seems too great a task for a small, offhand conversation. Wrathion lofts an eyebrow, enough to suggest he finds something curious about Malcom's reply, but moves on regardless. ]

I have been told they vary vastly due to... connections with the Moonblessed.

[ Here, Wrathion's expression flickers into a slight frown of thought. This, in turn, is not quite his element. The concepts are still new. ]

These dragons, I am told, have been hatched with the assistance us unwilling travellers. It seems the Chroma we generate impacts them, and thus they have taken on traits depending on which of us they were... assisted by. A curious thing. A friend of mine caused one to grow up fond of... flowers.

[ A dragon really into flowers. The mental image still amuses him. ]

[prodigalmess]

Really? [ Malcolm furrows his brow and looks back at the egg in his bird cage. ] So you're saying that I can somehow affect the dragon that's going to hatch from this egg?

[ Will it be fond of knives and jazz music? Will it be obsessed with solving murders? ]

[blackscales]

[ Hmmm. Well. ]

I believe the impact was... a natural one, not something chosen.

[ This isn't an experiment here. ]

[prodigalmess]

Yeah, I mean... unwittingly. Like if I play it jazz albums nonstop will it love jazz when it's born?

There's research that says that talking to and playing music for human babies in utero can have positive effects on them.

[blackscales]

[ That doesn't sound very unwitting, Malcom. That sounds like a deliberate life choice. Wrathion lofts an eyebrow. ]

Perhaps it is the same. I believe the development cycle of their young is... slower here than I am used to, but the concept is familiar to me -- a dragon being impacted by surroundings while yet to hatch. The changes are simply more far-reaching, thanks to the Chroma.

[prodigalmess]

As tempting as it is to see if I leave any kind of imprint on this dragon, I also don't really want to keep this egg in my apartment. Not that it wouldn't be amazing to have a dragon, I just don't really have room for it. And I don't want it to eat Sunshine.

[ Sunshine chirps loudly in agreement. ]

[blackscales]

Then I suppose you will have to try your idea of moving it, and hope no nearby dragons suspect you of thievery.

[ How good are you at stealth, Malcom? ]

[prodigalmess]

Yeah. It may end up right outside the apartment building if I see any dragons around.

[ He can be stealthy if he needs to be. A benefit of police work. ]