usir | [closed]

Character(s): Shura & Strange
Status: Closed
Location(s): City of the Free Peoples
Date(s) Early 3/21
About: Dragon playdate!!
Warnings: none

You know what's really nice after a night of putting her life on the line fighting a bunch of dumb werewolves? Sleeping. Getting to pass out in bed and just not worry about things for a while. But guess who discovered a huge new problem once she got to her room? Shura thought it was just exhaustion making her hear things, but no. That was a fucking tiny dragon hanging on her bed making weird noises at her. And now the little thing won't leave her alone, crawling up her sleeve and clinging to her for dear life.

There's one nerd out there who Shura knows loves dragons. And honestly, Shura isn't entirely certain she's not hallucinating at this point. It's been a long night. But once the damn thing seems settled in her lap, Shura's going to grab her courier and send Strange a voice message.

"Where are you?"

He better be awake. She'd kill him if he was sleeping peacefully right now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alistair walks over to Strange, not wanting to be left out of the party. He puts his paws on Strange's legs and sadly chirps. Awkwardly, Strange hoists the dragon up and puts him on his lap.

"You were passed out on the bed," Strange teases, as he gives Alistair a few under the chin scratches. "I wasn't going to be the person to wake you up. Besides, I've slept in worse places than my room's floor."

"That ain't a good reason!" Actually, it is, but Strange hasn't ever had the joy of waking Shura up before, so it isn't that good of a reason!!

As soon as Aconite finishes her breakfast, she'll turn her attention immediately to Alistair. Yes, she remembers him! She didn't get a great sniff on him before, but he's close to her size and like her!! It's very exciting, and she'll scurry off Shura's lap, falling to the bed with a soft thump and stand up on her hind legs to try and peep up at Alistair and get his attention. She isn't quite big enough to see him, but she can smell him, and she opens her mouth wide to make a chortling sound. It's time to play, come on!!

Alistair peers over at Aconite, blinking a little as he spots her. The dragon is obviously hesitant and makes a small chirping noise before he looks up at Strange. And in return, Strange just looks down at the dragon.

"What, are you asking my permission?" This is new. Nothing's ever asked Strange for his permission as long as he's lived. He gives Alistair a wry little smile before he gestures at Aconite. "Go ahead, chase her or whatever the two of you want to do."

That's good enough for Alistair as the dragon makes a happy little chirp and bounds over Strange's lap to move towards Aconite. Strange can't help but look over at the two, with a small smile. This is absolutely adorable...and also a stark reminder that Strange has no clue how to raise a baby dragon. He knows theoretical dragon raising, not practical!

"Gods, we really have no damn clue what we're doing."

Yes!! Aconite trills at Alistair when she sees him, spreading her wings wide. She's not quite used to this, though, and she falls flat on her back. Unbothered and undeterred, she'll roll right over and scampers off, running on all legs. Shura watches, feeling even more exhausted now that she's getting to see how much energy just one of them has. Two of them together was just going to be double the trouble.

"You're the expert," she mutters, not bothering to question the we part of that statement. There were other things to take care of first, like clothing the werewolves she captured. She rises to her feet, moving off the bed and hoping that Aconite will be too distracted with playing to notice.

"Watch her for me." Shura's afraid to leave the thing alone right now. What if she got spooked and started making that shrill growling noise again? She doesn't have any spells set up to conceal her identity, so things could only go poorly if she was discovered.

At Shura's request, Strange nods. Though they have no clue, he's the one out of the two of them who has something close to a moderate clue. And though he doesn't know where Shura's going, they caught a werewolf last night. Whatever she's doing probably has something to do with that.

"King Ardis gave me some gold in exchange for the silver I gifted him. With that and some money I received from the expedition, I think I'm going to buy some property near Didymos. If you ever need to leave Aconite with me again, at least there she'll have some space."

There's a pause, like Strange is about to say something, but he decides not to. Instead, he turns his attention to the dragons, who are happily play-wrestling with each other on his bed.

"Didymos?" It isn't really much of surprise if she stops to think, but she isn't stopping and it sounds further away than what it really is, now that the distance is easily traveled by air. Still, something lingers about this that annoys her. Strange is a man who doesn't hold back when he wants to say something, and though she has the feeling she doesn't want to hear what he's holding back, she doesn't like keeping things secret. She'll blame it on that.

"If you have somethin' to say, then say it." She follows his gaze, watching the dragons wrestle and squeak. What a handful, the two of them.

There's a pause as Strange obviously tries to figure out how best to say what he wants to say. "If the two of you are ever near Didymos, you know you're more than welcome to stay at my house. It would be cheaper than an inn, after all."

Obviously, Strange would kind of like it if Shura stayed at his place longer than just a visit. But he's still treading lightly around the whole 'I really like you' concept. Hopefully framing it as an act of convenience would make the whole thing go down smoother.

So, about what she expected.

"Ah, yeah. Sure." He's... not wrong. And it'd be nice to be able to have both Shishi and the dragon in a safe place. So Shura doesn't rebuff him, though she looks away from him to hide the way her face turns just a little pink. And then, to prove that this is a super casual reaction, she'll turn to leave. But she pauses at the door, hand hovering above the knob for a second before she looks over her shoulder.

"I'll be back."

The dragons continue to romp and wrestle on the bed. When Shura looks back at him, Strange gives her a little nod. This is also about what he expected: not much of a reaction. But she at least gave him a little bit of a reaction and didn't shoot his idea out of hand, so Strange is taking that as a good sign for the moment.

"I'll keep her safe until you return."

And probably try to lecture poor Aconite on the history of dragons. Hey, it's learning!

[closed]

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