Twenty-two sunrises left.

"Are you going to come visit too?" I sent my thoughts and a bit of my annoyed grumpiness to Ivy as I stared back at the two Kymari watching me.

"Hm? Good morning, Nate!" Ivy's voice sounded happy, with that faint buzz of energy I often felt inside myself right after the Morning Song. "We're scheduled for patrols today and won't be able to come by. Is something wrong? Trenil might be able to help even still, or we can find out who's off today and come up with an excuse for them to stop by?"

"Oh; no, it's not that." I watched as Arlia lifted one hand to wave at me from the couch. "Just feels like everybody else has come over this weekend." I blinked slowly back at Arlia and continued staring back at the pair.

Ivy's mindspeech came back with a hint of amusement. "Everybody? Counting myself and Trenil you know all of what, five people? Did the Elder stop by again or something?"

"Har, har. I know more than tha..." I paused and took a quick count. "...seven."

"Seven? Who... wait." There was a pause, then I felt the amusement in Ivy's tone. "You actually counted the Elder, didn't you."

"I met her! She counts." I sent some of my annoyance towards Ivy, along with the image of the two Kymari still watching me. "If she comes over too, I'm clawing my way out the window."

More of Ivy's amusement came with her mindspeech. "It's only one day. You'll have the house all to yourself to mope around in tomorrow; you can put up with a little company for one day." A feeling of teasing emotion came from Ivy. "Besides, you're several floors up with broken wings. Is splatting on the pavement really that much better than having to be around visitors?"

"...ask me again in a few hours."

The two Kymari finally looked away. Arlia reached for the tablet while the other one turned off the recording device pointed at me. I stayed perched on the windowsill for a little longer - I had overexerted my leg a bit too much yesterday, and it was still a little sore. The warm bowl of sand would feel better, but I wasn't quite ready to hop over to it.

Arlia tapped something on the tablet. "That was really pretty. I'm a little jealous; I would not mind listening to that song each morning." The screen came on from Arlia's tapping, then she tapped on the tablet again to cycle through programs.

"It's even prettier when they fly as part of it, and when there's more of them. I'm really looking forward to when he's able to fly again." The Kymari paused and glanced back at her friend. "You know, if you're serious..."

"Noooope. That is all you; my parents would kill me just as much as yours will. And unlike you I don't like making everybody angry at me."

"I don't make everybody angry..." The Kymari stood up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back and sat a bowl of salty-smelling snacks on the table, which Arlia grabbed a handful from. "So how'd work go this week?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. I got to solo on a cargo run yesterday; some specialty freighter that didn't want to land."

"Nice."

"It was a little scary not to have a senior pilot there, but it was a great feeling when I landed. How was yours?" Arlia flipped through a few more programs and chewed on the snack.

"Ugh. Don't get me started. Rittara is still acting like I'm the scum of the universe."

"Hmph. Yeah, she is a real jerk; everybody complains about her. You should be close to soloing too though; just a few more days and then you won't have to deal with her tagging along anymore."

"I hope so."

"Wanna watch this one?" Arlia pointed at the program she had picked out on the screen.

"Oh, I was waiting for that one to come out. We might have to pause in the middle so I can feed him when he gets hungry, if that's okay."

"Sure. You can't put his food out now?"

"Oh no, that would be way too easy. Trenil's outline has me feeding him by hand now."

"Ouch." I saw Arlia glance at the other Kymari's hand. "I don't suppose the outline came with a set of gloves?"

"Believe it or not, he hasn't attacked me during a feeding yet. We've done three meals now. He hisses up a storm all through it, which is hilarious and you have got to see it, but he doesn't seem as interested in scratching or biting when he wants food."

"Huh. Maybe he's warming up to you."

"Think he's just smart enough to know hurting the person feeding him isn't the best of ideas." The Kymari glanced back at me for a second, looking thoughtful, then shook her head and glanced back at the screen. "Go on, start the movie."

The screen started blaring out a fanfare as a movie started, and the two Kymari settled in to watch it. I waited on the windowsill for a few more minutes until my leg felt better, then I hopped over to the bowl of sand and sprawled out in the warmth of the heat lamp. I wasn't quite hungry enough to beg for fruit, and the heat soaking through my scales was an acceptable way to pass the time. For now, anyway.

"Hey, Nate?" Ivy's voice interrupted me just before I drifted off.

"Mm-hm?" I half-opened my eyes and glanced out at the room, but the two Kymari were still watching the movie and munching on their snack.

"I just wanted to say... erm... That is..." I hadn't realized you could stammer with the mindspeech, but somehow Ivy pulled it off. "I talked with some of the other dragonets, and they told me more about dogs, and about living on your own in general. And... I guess I just hadn't really understood how hard things must have been for you all those years alone, and how hard what happened must have been on you. I never really lived alone – I grew up with family, then had roommates through college, and then I had the rest of the flock after that. I don't really know what it must have been like these last eight years for you. So I wanted to say I'm sorry for pushing you so hard, and to say thank you for letting Minna give you the pineapple. I think I'm starting to understand how much that must have taken for you to do."

I wasn't sure what to say.

"I still hope you and Minna can work things out, but... if you need any help with anything, or if you decide you can't be with her, just let me know. The rest of us will do what we can to help you."

"Thank you."

A warm feeling of acknowledgement came back from Ivy, then she went silent.

I wiggled a little to sink deeper into the sand, then continued drifting off into a relaxing half-sleep.

Hunger grew too great to ignore after about an hour or so. I yawned and got up, then shook the sand out of my scales. I had to admit, the warm sand did make me feel better. The soreness in my leg was gone, though I knew I would need to keep being gentle with it, and even my wings felt a little better.

I glanced around the room and spotted a clear container of food resting on the coffee table in the center of the room. The two Kymari were still watching the screen... but I could tell they had realized I was awake. Arlia tilted her head a little, giving her a slightly better view of the side of the room I was in, and the other Kymari casually reached towards the food on the table. She fiddled with the lid for a moment, but when she was done she held a slice of pineapple.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at it.

This had been the routine for the meals yesterday. There would probably only be one slice of pineapple in this meal - I had the feeling she was trying to stretch them, and aside from breakfast yesterday each meal had only had one of the delicious rings - and she always offered it first in order to tempt me over.

It worked, but I had decided that if she ever tried to switch it up and cheat me of the pineapple, I would just skip the meal. Maybe I had to eat out of her hand, fine, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it. If I wasn't getting a pineapple out of it then the deal was off.

Going hungry would totally show her.

My stomach informed me of how little it appreciated that particular strategy and urged me to just go get the food, but I ignored it for a little longer and settled for glaring at the Kymari.

"Am I upsetting things?" Arlia didn't turn away from the screen, but my instincts told me she was focusing on me.

"No, this is normal. He still isn't happy at having to come to me to eat; he'll sit there and stare at me like that for a bit, then wander over."

"Oh." Arlia relaxed a little. "What do you think he's thinking?"

I saw a smile grow on the Kymari's face. "You remember back when we were little, and would sometimes pretend we could make things explode with our minds?"

Arlia burst out into laughter. "He totally does look like that, you're right."

I glared even harder - and just on the off chance that I could, I tried to imagine the couch exploding underneath them - but it seemed that blowing things up with our minds was not among the abilities that dragonets had.

Oh well. I would have to settle for 'just' being able to talk with my mind.

Arlia finally recovered from her giggle fit. "So when he's done pouting, he comes over and sits in your lap?"

The Kymari shook her head. "He tries to get inside the container first. It's only once he gives up on that idea that he comes to the couch."

"Ahh, that explains all the scratch marks. He can't pry the lid off?"

"No, but not for lack of trying. Trenil got me a few of these; they have a sensor built in and only unseal if I open it. They're fire proof, too - he tried flaming one for lunch yesterday. I don't think he'll do it again though; he didn't try it for dinner."

I glared harder at the memory of that. It was entirely unfair at how many things the Kymari had that couldn't be melted through. And I had only realized after the attempt that the small bowl of drinking water was all the way across the room. I didn't want to risk her thinking I had decided not to eat, and I didn't want to put my leg through that, so I had been forced to deal with the yucky aftertaste of the oily saliva through most of the meal. That had been the only reason I hadn't tried it again at dinner.

I finally snorted in frustration - despite my intense stares, the pineapple slice wasn't getting any closer - and climbed down to the floor. I crossed over to the table and climbed up onto it, then paused to glare at both Kymari again. The smell of food was even stronger up close, and my stomach rumbled in an attempt to urge me to go take the pineapple from her hand. I ignored it and went to the container of fruit instead.

Sure enough, it was still tightly sealed. I tried getting my claws underneath the lid, but the thing must have been vacuum sealed or something. I scratched around the lid for a few minutes, before I accepted that the claws on my hands wouldn't be enough and rolled onto my side instead. That let me bring my hindlegs into play, and I unleashed four sets of razor-sharp claws against a thin piece of clear material that had no right to be this strong!!

I finally gave up and sat up next to the scratched container, hissing furiously in frustration. Arg! Stupid Kymari inventions! Stupid cast, stupid broken wings, stupid hungry belly, stupid, stupid, stupid, aaaaaaaaa!

Just because I could, I banged my head against the container. It was heavy, but after a bit of effort I felt it start to slide across the table... and after a few minutes of struggling, I managed to tip it over the side of the table. It fell to the floor with a very satisfying 'thump' noise. I perked my ear tufts and glanced over the edge of the table just in case... only to flatten them again as I saw the container was still tightly sealed. Of course.

I hissed more and glared back at the pineapple slice. The Kymari was still just holding it calmly over her leg and staring at the screen as if nothing had happened. Arlia, on the other hand, was clearly struggling not to laugh.

I glared at her for a solid ten seconds, hissing the entire time, then finally gave in. I hopped over the gap to the couch and perched on the cushion.

The Kymari tilted her head to look at me, only now showing any sign that she realized I was there. I waited another second - yesterday she had brought the pineapple to me, and then gradually lured me onto her lap with subsequent bits of food, but today she seemed to want me in her lap before she gave me anything.

I squawked up at her, but she only responded by shaking the slice in her hand. I was still going to have to crawl over her legs to get close enough to reach the food.

"Not going to give it to him?" I shot a glare at Arlia at the sound of her voice. She had looked down from the screen and was grinning at me. I hissed back at her and flattened my ear tufts more.

"Not today. I did that yesterday, but I need to keep pushing him a little to get used to me. He's already shown he'll sit in my lap to eat; now it's just a matter of getting him more comfortable with the idea." She bobbed the food for me again, taunting me with it. "Trenil has a whole schedule for me worked up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow I get to try petting him."

Arlia grinned wider at my continued hisses. "Good luck with that one."

"Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes, assuming I don't die of blood loss in the process."

I took a break from my hissing to squawk up at them one more time, just in case, but the pineapple remained right where it was. Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid... I picked up my frustrated hissing and stepped up onto the Kymari's leg. I stayed as far away from the pineapple as I could, just to make a point, and stretched my neck to its limit to bite at the slice.

Both Kymari broke into laughter, but she released the pineapple. I sat up on her leg and slowly ate the tasty fruit.

"Can you pick the food up for me? I don't want to move too much while he's eating."

"Sure." Arlia bent down and retrieved the container from where it had landed. She started to sit back up, but paused and wrinkled her nose. "Phew. Do they normally smell like that?"

I did my best not to turn and hiss at her... then realized she would probably excuse it as the result of being so much closer to me while I was agitated. I turned my head and hissed at her.

"No. They actually tend to smell fine; the few times I've been around Ivy she's smelled nice. There's this oil for their scales that has a bit of perfume in it; the notes I've seen say they really like it."

"Oh..." Arlia finished sitting up and handed over the container of fruit. "He doesn't though?"

"Don't know yet." She opened the container and produced a raspberry. I glared at it for a moment before stretching my neck out to grab it... but it was just a bit out of reach. I hissed louder and took the smallest step closer that I could, then tried again, managing to grab it this time. "Trenil wants him to be comfortable with me before I use that. Kind of a 'reward' thing, for after he's able to relax around me. The stuff is expensive, too, so I need to make sure I don't waste it by him attacking me or knocking it over. Same problem with letting him take a bath; the cast for his wings are fine, but the one over his side isn't waterproof. I can't leave water out for him to clean himself or else his ribs might lose the support they need."

"How much longer until that comes off?"

"I have an appointment next weekend; if everything looks good then it'll come off." She produced an alien fruit from the container that reminded me of a cherry and waited for me to finish the raspberry. "But it shouldn't be that bad. Once he sits through a whole meal I'll work up to washing him. I just need to be sure he won't wander off or attack me before I get the chance to dry him off, and I don't want to move too fast and scare him into not eating."

Well that was news. If I had known that I would have tried harder to put up with her yesterday. I wasn't that happy with the way I was smelling, either, and the sink in the bathroom could only do so much. Though at least now I knew it would be safe to try the shower soon, if I could manage a way to reach the controls.

I had never been that hung up on my appearance, but still, I wasn't any happier about the state I was in than Arlia was. Even if I had to put up with her touching me, it would be worth it to finally be clean again. Probably.

I finished the raspberry and took the next piece out of the Kymari's hand. Hopefully she didn't have too much food in that container.

"Can I feed him?"

The Kymari hesitated. "I don't know... Trenil said it's important that I do it, so he isn't as bothered by me." She tapped on the container a few times, then shook her head. "Maybe next week. I don't want him to think he can get food from somewhere else until he's a little more used to getting it from me."

"Oh. Makes sense." I could tell Arlia was disappointed with the decision, but she didn't press it any further. The two grew silent and watched me eat.

The Kymari kept passing food to me, and I kept grudgingly taking it. I stopped hissing about halfway through the meal - if she needed to be convinced I could be still in order to have a bath, the constant hissing probably wasn't helping. I felt the Kymari shift subtly underneath me when I stopped, and I thought I saw surprise in her expression when I felt brave enough to peek up at her from the corner of my eye. Yesterday I had growled at her all through the meal. She had probably expected me to do the same thing today.

She didn't say anything, though. Probably too worried I would start hissing if she said anything. Which... was probably a valid concern.

The Kymari finally reached into the container for the last time and pulled out another piece of fruit. This was one I hadn't seen before - it was a blocky thing, and seemed to be a mix of blue and tan colors. I leaned forward and sniffed it curiously.

It... smelled pretty good, actually. I took the strange fruit from the Kymari and bit into it.

My eyes went wide at the taste of the strange, delicious, wonderful fruit. Words like 'divine' and 'bliss' and 'stop wasting brain power on coming up with words that you could instead be using to enjoy this thing' all came to mind. The fruit was good.

It was gone much, much too quickly. I didn't care that I had just eaten a full breakfast - I wanted more of that. It had been like eating a dozen sunburst berries all at once. I looked up at the Kymari and let out a sound I could only describe as a hopeful whine - come on, please have more of those...

She smiled and laughed at me. "Looks like the notes weren't kidding." She leaned towards the table and put the empty container on it, then leaned back.

I huffed and hopped back to the table, then nosed at the container. I could see that it was empty, but that thing had been so good. She had left the lid off so I stuck my head inside and sniffed around. I could smell all the different fruits that had been inside, and I could smell that one too... but there wasn't anything else.

"What was that?" Arlia watched as I reached over the side of the container and scratched hopefully along the bottom of it.

"Shia fruit. They're expensive, but Trenil sent me a few. I'm supposed to use them as 'breakthrough treats'; if he finishes a checklist he can have one. The last piece of the first meal he finished with me was supposed to be one; there are a few other things marked out. Stuff that's supposed to be particularly hard for them to get used to. When he lets me hold him without hissing or biting, that sort of thing."

"I get the feeling he'll be well motivated to get through that list."

"That's the idea." She watched me search for more of the amazing fruit for another moment before frowning. "I guess later tonight I can try washing him. I get the feeling he won't stay very still right now."

I knocked the container over on its side and stuck my head inside. I could smell it, and there had to be more; nobody would come across something that delicious and only get one...

"Seriously." Arlia reached for the tablet and tapped a button on it, causing the movie to start back up on the screen. "He might be calm again when the show's done."

I hissed in frustration, beginning to believe the container might actually be as empty as my eyes told me it was, and knocked it off the table. I followed after it, sniffing at the floor determinedly...