Let Me Guide Your Path [Windra]

[Dragon]

Shards, were you ever that small? Briolette eyed the tiny green curiously. All right, so maybe the green wasn't a tiny example of that color - actually rather big for a green - but Briosk was a sizable brown and as an adult very much of a height with Brio herself.

Briosk contemplated the question, not realizing that it was mostly rhetorical and nostalgic. First hatched, was smaller. He let out a gusty sigh. Briosk miss small.

Brio's lips curled into a small smile. Of course he did. Briosk had always been a cuddly thing and eternally regretted that he was huge.

That, however, was neither here nor there. Briolette cleared her throat to attract the attention of the decidedly short redhead with the little green. "You're Wherling Retsuko?"

[Windra]

Chasing off FoxFire was a feat enough. The nosey little fire-lizard yearned to know the source of Retsuko's coming anxiety that drifted and flowed with waves. The girl tried, in vain, to explain the whole mentorship thing to the creature in vivid imagery and toddler-speak but it was all just confusing drivel that sent a frustrated girl off into the ether. Between called to the FoxFire and she vanished in a moody little huff, determined to spy from somewhere.

"That's ... troubling," Retsuko sighed as she finished gathering her things together in a large knapsack. She didn't know what to expect of this first meeting. Were they going to be thrust into assignments and challenges right out the gate? The same apprehension that stiffened her muscles and jerked her nerves seemed to lay claim to Tsusk as well. He wasn't very verbal - not that it had been a huge trait of his to begin with - but it was obvious he was mulling over what lay ahead. She cleared her throat and the wherlet's eyes met her's. "It'll be ... fine. I'm sure." That was a lie. "We'll take this one step at a time."

It didn't take long to get used to the general care of a baby and Retsuko found that once she lay hands on the creature during their bonding, stroking him unconsciously drew great comfort for both of them. Tsusk wasn't quite talkative and that might never change, but at least he appeared unperturbed - and quite possibly affectionate - and not so snappy as other wherlets and dragonets behaved.

They cuddled quietly, frequently, with FoxFire settling between them as a cat ... which was funny because the wherlet himself was no bigger than one for a long time.

Tsusk's head cocked. Mentor ready. They wait.

"Let's go then."

You're Wherling Retsuko?

"Y-yes!" she snapped to attention quite abruptly when her name was called. Tsusk was carried in her arms, somewhere between the girth of a small feline to a hefty dog. He was getting heavy after all these months of good food and growth spurts. Retsuko set him down softly, feeling the groan of her biceps and lower back. "That's my - uh - I mean to say ... It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Briolette!" And she folded her torso into a bow.

Tsusk's attention remained on Briosk. Not intimidated but absolutely observing. Quite the mirror of his handler without the doting pleasantries. He picked his words carefully. I am Tsusk. You are Briosk? Simple. Straightforward. Neither too eager or too dismissive.

[Dragon]

TW: ACCIDENTAL MISGENDERING

"Just Briolette is fine, or Brio," the brownhandler clarified with a friendly smile. The girl looked nervous, and Brio figured that it was part of her job to put the other redhead at ease. She felt Briosk shift slightly at her side; the big wher was clearly jealous that the green was still small enough to be carried, even if Retsuko set her down almost immediately. Be nice; the little one will be big soon, too. "Your wher - Tsusk, is she? - is a winter baby?"

Yes, Briosk, the big brown confirmed, looking down a the baby green. You big one day too.

[Windra]

"He," Retsuko corrected quickly, glancing at Tsusk as if expecting some hostile reaction. She wasn't altogether familiar with his reaction to being misrepresented. He was a green, after all, and those were commonly female ... But how the times were changing! "Tsusk is a ... well, male. Seems to, uh, believe he's one even though, um, private bits are ... you know."

She perked a bit. The green was not at all what Retsuko expected. He was full of surprises. Starting with his own remarkable silence.

And his own sense of being witnessed. Tsusk's statement of size made the green wonder if he looked too small for his color and maybe Brosk expected him to be larger. So he became larger. Tsusk puffed out his chest, squared his shoulders, and stood tall. Unfortunately that 'tall' was up to the brown's elbow at best.

Will be. What Brosk teach me?

"He was born right after Serapheth's clutch," she blustered, suddenly proud. "Not a minute after the last shell broke. He - uh - had impeccable timing." Seemingly aware that she might be prattling on, Retsuko quickly dropped her torso into several small bows. "So sorry! I'm - I'm eager to learn! I am a quick learner! What's my first step?"

[Dragon]

He? Oh. Briolette started slightly, then shrugged. "Oh. Well, these things happen." Among dragonkin, as among humans, sometimes the outside and the inside just ... didn't match up. "I wonder if he'll run, or if he'll chase." There'd be no way of knowing, probably, until it happened one way or the other.

When Tsusk made himself as big as possible, Briosk rumbled in amusement. Only small once. Soon, too big to carry. He sounded particularly wise at the moment, particularly sage, as though he were imparting the most important bit of knowledge he's gained in his seventeen and a half turns. Teach you strong. Teach you how be big.

Brio smiled at her wher's antics, then turned the expression on a proud Retsuko. "That is impeccable timing. Puts you right in with a wherling group! But at the moment, it was time to get down to business. Considering the age of the baby whers ... "You'd be working on trust exercises right about now? And about to start your first forays into scenting. We can start there."