"But moooom, it'll just be an hour, maybe two..."
I lifted my head slightly and perked my ears at Lyzel's muffled voice. She sounded like she was somewhere on the other side of the door, but not too close - maybe somewhere down the hallway.
"No, it will not be, because you have school that you will be going to instead." An unfamiliar voice responded sternly to Lyzel.
"But I wanna see him sing; everybody says it's really neat! My friends are always asking about it, and this is my chance to see it. That means it's educational."
"You will have plenty of chances to see it later. Your Aunt Minna will still be here tonight, and tomorrow, and next week, and next month, I am sure. You may get up early and watch him on a weekend if you really wish to."
"But daddy said she'll only be staying for a day or two. What if he's gone by then?"
"Your father says a lot of things about your aunt that do not turn out to be right. If he is, then I will take you to her new place on the weekend and we can watch it flail around together. Now stop arguing with me and go to school."
There was a dramatic sigh from beyond the door, then a drawn out "O-kay."
I heard the sound of feet stomping away, followed by the new voice muttering something incomprehensible, and then that voice faded away too.
I laid my head back down for a few more minutes but I had slept well during the night and felt quite rested. I slipped carefully down from the blanket and flew over to the dresser. I stretched out my limbs and worked out the stiffness that had accumulated from hours of sleep, then scratched at some of the itchier spots on my body... then I stared back at Minna.
She was still fast asleep.
What time was it? How much longer did I have before the sunrise? If Lyzel was awake it must at least be getting close to morning, but how much more time did we have?
I didn't want to cause Minna to miss out on sleep, but I also didn't want to miss the sunrise. If only this room had windows, then I could at least have an idea of what time it was...
I glided down to the floor by the door and peeked through the crack. There was light on the other side, but it was cold and artificial. There was no way of knowing what time it was just from that.
I rolled onto my side and stared out at the hallway. Every minute that went by made me reconsider waking up Minna, and I was just about to when I saw a pair of feet at the far end of the hallway.
I rolled back to my feet and chirped, hoping to be both loud enough to get their attention and quiet enough to avoid waking Minna. "Hello? Excuse me, can you open the door? Hello?"
The feet stopped moving.
"Open. The. Door." I chirped slower, as if that might magically transcend the language barrier between dragonets and Kymari. And because I knew it wouldn't, I sat up and scratched at the door. I kept my claws in - I just wanted to make the noise, I wasn't trying to dig through the thing.
The feet started moving towards me. Yes! Now I can go check on the sky and let Minna sleep. Win-win!
The footsteps paused outside the door... and then a loud banging echoed through the room, causing me to jump in surprise. "Minna! Your pest is scratching at the door; wake your lazy butt up and take care of it before it rips a hole in the wall!" The banging stopped... then the voice continued, both quieter and kinder. "I made breakfast; there is a plate waiting for you in the kitchen when you are ready."
I stared at the door for a moment, then sang out a dry, "I could have done that; thanks."
Minna yawned from the bed and I turned to see her stretching. "Thank you, Loreena. I'll be right out." The Kymari crawled out of bed and dug around in her luggage, pulling a few nearly folded pieces of clothes out from the bag and tossing them on the bed.
I blinked and quickly turned away to look back through the crack in the door as she began changing. Just pretend there's something real interesting out there... I stuck my hand under the door and pretended I was grabbing for something to add to the effect. I was going to have to ask Ivy how she or the other dragonets avoided this.
I suddenly realized I could have just asked Ivy what time it was, and could have avoided most of this. I sighed internally. I really needed to remember that she was there if I had problems.
Minna joined me at the door and nudged me with her foot. "Get away from there silly, I'll take you out. We just want to make sure you don't break anything."
A cautious glance up confirmed the Kymari was once again fully clothed, so I allowed her to nudge me away from the door. I stayed next to it, though, ready to race out the moment she opened the door.
She stared at me for a moment... then lifted one hand up and made a fist. "To fist."
I let out a half-strangled hissing noise and deliberately flew up past her hand to instead land on her shoulder. I still wasn't happy from being 'taught' that trick and did not want her to get the idea that method would ever work. I walked carefully to the far edge of her shoulder and sat up, then curled my tail in and stared back at her. "No."
The corners of Minna's mouth quirked ever-so-slightly upwards. "Close enough. We'll work on that later." She brought her hand up to hold me against her shoulder, then opened the door.
She moved quickly through the house, almost dashing through two hallways, a door, another hallway and one final door, and let go of me as she closed the door behind her. The room she had brought me to was longer than the bedroom but felt narrower. It was filled with various plants, though it looked like the smaller and fragile-looking plants had all been moved to the very edges of the room to rest right up against the wall. Dozens of pretty blooms speckled the greenery, and beyond it was a solid window that ran nearly the entire length of the room.
Through the window I could clearly see the first hints of a glow in the otherwise dark sky. I launched from Minna's shoulder and found a perch on one of the planters, taking care not to damage the bushy plant growing in it.
I stared out the long window and waited. The pull of the Morning Song grew stronger and stronger, until... I leapt into the air and burst into song.
My song today was one of pure happiness. All the confusion and turmoil was finally gone, at long last. I could fly and greet the sun properly, and answer each ray of light with a loop or swerve of my own. I could sing with all of my breath, holding back only that which my muscles needed to push me faster and faster as my excitement intensified. I could respond to every glimmer of sunlight, every new flicker among the clouds, every different tinge of color in the sky, and I could do it properly. I showed off with plenty of room for all of my acrobatics.
And I showed off for Minna.
The sun rose, and I settled down on another planter to stare out at the window and savor the last lingering seconds of exhilaration.
"...okay. I will admit it; that was pretty." I jerked and looked back at the unfamiliar voice. Terron and another Kymari had joined Minna in the room. When had they come in? I hadn't even noticed the door open.
All three of them were standing by the door. Minna had gotten a recording device from somewhere at some point, and she tapped something on it before pointing it away from me. "It is. You should go and see the main flock someday if you get a chance; it's even more..." Minna paused and seemed to search for words. "It's indescribable. Their songs intertwine in ways you can't really explain; you just have to experience it."
The unfamiliar Kymari - a woman, probably Terron's wife and Lyzel's mother - regarded me for another long moment before her expression softened a little. "I will keep that in mind. It would be nice to see it again; I can see why Lyzel is so insistent on it." She eyed me for another second or two, then started back to the door. "I would still much prefer that he does it outside tomorrow."
Terron shot Minna a stern glance that plainly said it would be better for everybody if that were to happen. Minna reached for me, and I jumped up on her shoulder. "Of course. As soon as I finish breakfast I'll be leaving to get his things, and then I'll be able to take him out."
The other woman paused and looked back at Minna. "You are just going to leave him here when you go?"
I did my best not to glance at Minna too. I wasn't too happy about that idea either. I was hungry, and I was going to need to figure out something to do for the bathroom soon. Being apart from Minna was another worry I didn't want to have to deal with, much less being left alone with these two.
Terron wasn't that bad, but I was starting to think his wife didn't care too much for me.
"She doesn't have much choice Loreena; he's not trained enough to go off-harness yet, and it's not fair to keep him in that tiny carrier for a whole flight."
"The guest room is not much better." The woman eyed me again, clearly thinking of all the damage I could do. I wondered if she knew I could breathe fire.
"I was thinking he could have a few rooms. We already cleared them of any potential problems last night." Terron spoke casually, but I could see the woman's eyes harden at the suggestion. "He didn't cause any damage at Minna's apartment, and it will just be for a few hours, until she gets back. Then he'll be off with her and you'll have the house back to yourself."
The woman glared at me but ultimately seemed to relent. "If he breaks anything, you will replace it."
"Of course." Minna put her hand over my back protectively. "Thank you."
The woman blinked in apparent surprise, then gave a terse nod and left. Terron followed after her.
Minna took me through a few halls until we came to a dining room. I was impressed by just how large the home was. It must have dozens of rooms. I couldn't imagine a family of three ever needing half of them, even if it was common for family or friends to visit.
Minna put out a container of various fruits for me and started on her own breakfast. She finished much too quickly, but lingered for a little bit to pet me. I nudged my head against her hand... then squawked in annoyance when she snuck a piece of fruit from my bowl. She smiled as she popped the berry in her mouth and gave me another pat on my head. "I have to go now... I'll be back soon, okay? Don't worry. This place is safe, and Loreena will leave you alone. Be good for me, okay?"
She looked around the room and checked the doors, as if worried somebody might be watching... then she gently grabbed me and pulled me to her chest in a hug. I thrummed softly against her and spread my wings out to press back against her. She held me like that for a long moment.
Then the moment ended, much too soon, and she sat me back down on the table. "I'll be back soon."
She gave me another comforting pat on my back... then she left.
I trilled sadly as the door shut behind her. "Be safe. Come back soon." I watched the door for a long moment, hoping Minna might change her mind and come back, but it stayed firmly shut.
You can get through a few hours. You just made it through days apart; this will be over before you know it.
I slowly ate through my breakfast and uselessly tried to convince myself that was true.