Juniper Grenleff | Demi-Boy | 22 | Serpent-Tongue Speaker | M: Ejiah

Juniper jolted as a man stood in front of him, nearly falling backwards before Pavi stopped him with her head and lifted Juniper back onto his feat. Juniper just was frozen in pure terror. What did he do? What was he supposed to do?? With dragons, you always greet them by not looking them in the eyes, approaching calmly, and petting them if they allow you to touch them. Sometimes, if dragons were misbehaving or acting tough, you have to put them in their place by telling them “no” and getting them to back down. If they were especially shy, you flop down onto the floor and let them come to you. Or you hold something shiny or you bring food to greet them. This— this thing— was not a dragon, so what the hell did Juniper say?

“Speak, already!” Pavi hissed, nudging him forward to the point where Juniper and the boy were only a few centimeters away.

“Well what am I supposed to say??” Juniper asked her weakly, their hands practically shaking as they pressed as close to her as possible. ““Oh, hi there! My name’s Juniper and I have literally no fucking clue how to interact with you and don’t have the sanity to actually speak properly!” Oooooh yeah, that sounds like a great introduction! I am sure he’d looooove that!” Juniper gave jazz hands to their dragon with the largest, most fake grin possible as their voice dripped with sarcasm between every word.

“At least start with a “hello” or maybe answer his question,” Pavi shot back with a snort, gently hitting Juniper upside the head with her tail. Juniper yelped quietly and rubbed the spot they’d been hit.

“Fine, I will!” Juniper grumbled sourly to Pavi before turning to the man before them. “Yes, I would like your help.” Juniper pushed past the man and began studying the leather around her face while looking for a way to take it off safely. “I have no clue what this all is but it’s clearly not good. It’s uncomfortably tight and if this dragon gets stuck in the woods or hit by a bird while flying, this thing could snag on it and choke her or seriously injure her.” Juniper looked up to the man as he crouched down. “It would be super awesome if you could get me a brush while I figure this out because there looks to be sand stuck between the scales where an Ice-Cutter’s cooling glands are so she could overheat. There is a low probability of that, but it is still good to not let them get clogged especially on hot days like today. I haven’t taken a good look at this other dragon yet, but she has melanism so her scales soak up the heat more. I have got something that should cool her down in my bag, but I haven’t tried it with Tidalwings yet…. Oh! If you could get some meat too, that’d be great!” Juniper smiled weakly before his smile instantly faded as he panicked slightly. “That’s… That’s not a huge request, right? Sorry! I can do it on my own if you need me to! Err… uhh… You did offer your help so I guess it would be rude to turn you down….” Juniper fiddled nervously with their gloves with a huff.

~~~

Freya Rouge | Female | 24 | Dragon-Rustler | M: Thea, Vinnie, + Lumi

“What? Hunter, what’s a lowlife?” Hayden asked as he tilted his head and turned to his companion. “I’m not a lowlife, am I?”

“No no no, you’re not a lowlife, this is just a very mean lady!” Hunter replied with a huff, trying to act all fierce as he bared his teeth at the dragon and hissed with his tail raised. Being a Striker, Hunter tried his best to be fierce and menacing despite his short stature.

“Are you able to speak Serpent’s Tongue?” Freya asked as she tilted her head and looked up to him, her eyes wide as she opened her mouth slightly in shock. “That’s an incredible feat! I— Wow.” Freya seemed a bit breathless that she was in the presence of someone who could speak this rare language and she just seemed to have about a million questions floating about, but none of which she asked as she forced herself to focus on her job. “I still would absolutely recommend someone to aid and watch over you because, while you may be extremely capable, you will be unable to fend off a multitude of dragon-freers as they attempt to catch you. I especially recommend that others protect you if you speak Serpent’s Tongue; however, it is your decision and I trust your judgement with whatever you choose.” Freya chuckled as she studied the Frill Wyrm, surprised by its presence before holding out yet another treat. “Your dragons are all very adorable.” Freya frowned and grew serious again as she stood, reaching into her satchel and pulling out a long cylinder with a small opening on one end and a ring on the other. “For their stake and your own, please take this. If you pull the ring at the end, it will create a flare that is visible almost across the whole world. Dragon-rustlers will come to protect you if they see this.

“Have I been mean? How was I being mean?” Sylvi asked sadly, somewhat surprised he could understand her and that an insult to her was his first words to her, before huffing. Whenever Sylvi gave licks, it was a privilege to earn them in her mind as she didn’t lick just anyone. “I have not been mean, Small One. We just want to protect you. If anything your friend has been mean to my petite friends. But what matters is that you’re safe, correct?”

“So you rescued this Winterwinder, the dragon-freer started to harass you then left once she heard me, and now I have found and began to interrogate you, correct?” Freya asked after writing the sequence of events down on a small notepad. Freya sighed before calling her Sniffer to her side with a soft whistle. Sniffer bounded over like a dog, his tail wagging excitedly as he waited for instructions before Freya whispered, “good boy.” “If you are free, might I ask you more questions while Hayden sniffs this Winterwinder? If you give us your permission and allow Hayden to perform his duties, perhaps I can track down whoever was attempting to trap this dragon. Dragon trapping is highly illegal, as I am sure you’re aware, so any opportunity to catch and stop them is worth any work that is needed on my part.” Freya blinked as the man before her apologized to her. “Oh? Oh, no need to apologize to me. Most people are often like that to me for some reason. I don’t know what you mean by being demanding or snappy, but I suppose I should apologize for that.”

Freya was entirely obviously to the fact that she seemed rude or impolite because she just looked terrifying and did not fully understand this fact. Her height, her scars, her muscles, and even her metal leg all looked highly intimidating. Even though Freya might be attempting to be friendly, comforting, or sympathetic, she often comes off as cruel or cold due to her lack of understanding social cues and things of the like.

“I just need a few more questions before you leave,” Freya mumbled as she wrote quickly into her small notebook. “Did the dragon-freer attempt to communicate with you where she would be heading to? Perhaps she gave you something of interest? Also, for the record, would you mind telling me your name in case further investigation is required into the events that transpired?”

Juniper Grenleff | Demi-Boy | 22 | Serpent-Tongue Speaker | M: Ejiah

Juniper inspected the object attached to the Ice-Cutter’s face so much so that he zoned out of everything entirely. When he found a small buckle and unlatched it, Juniper gasped softly in joy of figuring out how it worked. Within mere moments, Juniper had gotten the rest of the leather off the dragon's face, rubbing just behind her ears with a smile. Juniper felt quite accomplished at figuring out the small device that was just simple leather, holes, and a metal buckle.

“Mhm? Sorry what?” Juniper asked, zoning back into the words of the man before him. Apparently his name was Ejiah. “Oh! Uh, you probably need my name too umm…. Well, I am Juniper and this—” Juniper wrapped an arm around Pavi’s neck and pulled her closer— “is Pavi!!” Pavi licked Juniper’s face as she tried to wriggle out of their grip. Pavi inched closer while her big, lion-like claws stepped on his toes a bit as she sniffed his face before backing away and smiling, showing all her teeth as her tail wagged happily. “I think she likes you already, right Pavi?”

“He smells funny!”

“Pavi! That’s so rude why— why would you—” Juniper shook their head and quickly covered Pavi’s mouth with a nervous chuckle. “Ignore her, you smell fine!” Juniper paused. “Actually I can’t really smell you all that well. Maybe you do smell bad….”Juniper tilted their head at Ejiah’s final question for them. “Huh? Why wouldn’t I speak Serpent’s Tongue? How else would I talk to Pavi?”

Juniper shook his head. This man was so strange to her. While reaching for the brush, Juniper froze as he saw the meat in the plastic bag, tilting his head as he poked it gently with the brush. Juniper shivered, not trusting whatever that was in the slightest as Juniper narrowed their eyes suspiciously. Juniper laid down onto the ground beginning to brush the scales on the Ice-Cutter’s stomach.

“I know you don’t want this, but I promise you will feel a lot better with less sand in you.” Juniper told the Ice-Cutter with a smile, humming happily between each word. “What’s your name, by the way? Do you have names? I have known quite a few dragons who don’t have names so it’s okay if you haven’t picked a name for yourself yet.”