A Lesson in Displays
This was ridiculous. Absolutely uncalled for and a bit irritating. Javar had come to her, he himself was a bit agitated, snapping at a dragon here or a dragon there. Some of the dragons recoiled, perhaps fear or shock; others simply moved out of his way. Javar was not to be messed with when he was in a bad mood. So no dragon messed with him, except Asmodea. He had marched up to her, a growl in his throat, “What the hell was that?” She snorted and Javar knew she was rolling her eyes internally, her mandibles clicking together annoyedly. ‘I’m not sure what you mean.’ The feline snorted, the hair along his back raising. “Like hell, you don’t. I set up a breeding with a strong male with good genetics and you chased him off.” He was baring his teeth now, lips curled up in a snarl as he spoke.
Asmodea sniffed almost dismissively, “I didn’t like his courtship ritual.“ Javar stopped for a moment and then narrowed his eyes. The feline didn’t respond at first, still seething as he thought. In his head he mocked her excuse, well aware she could still hear him and the dragon narrowed her eyes. Then Javar smiled, a kind, friendly look and Asmodea took a step back. That was bad. That look was very very bad. What had he figured out to make him seem so happy all of a sudden. Now him being nice wasn’t always a problem but changing from an enraged mood into one as cheerful as he was was worrisome. “Hmm, I guess If you didn’t like his courtship display, you’ll have to be the one to do the display instead.” His voice was calm and gentle and it made her skin crawl. She looked at her rider preparing to speak, to object, “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble, hmm?” What was on her tongue, she swallowed it down and nodded. “Of…course…”
“Excellent! What do you know so far? What do your instincts tell you?” Javar’s continuous joyful tone still kept Asmodea shuddering with unease. “I…I don’t…It’s…” She stopped talking for a moment, taking a deep breath, drawing herself up as big as she could and clicking her mandibles angrily, her unease forgotten. “IT’S not MY job to court a mALe!” Her tone was sharp and she snorted indignantly. “It. Is. your. Job. now. If you hadn’t chased that male off, it wouldn’t be your job but you’re gonna learn and then I’m going to bring that male back and YOU are going to show him the best courtship display he’s ever seen.” The bug dragon was outraged now, she growled low in her throat, “Do. Not.” The feline was eyeing her as he spoke, knowing she was thinking of something to say. The sharpness of his tone stopped her from speaking and she let herself relax, lowering her head and submitting to her rider’s decision. Perhaps she’ll learn her lesson.
Javar walked around Asmodea and carefully caressed her wings. “Your wings are beautiful, they will be a beautiful display if you show them to the dragon you’re trying to impress. Your eyes are like shining crystals, you’ll probably have to bat them a little. Make sure the dragon focuses on your wings and eyes.” With a sigh Amodea stood up when her rider reappeared in front of her. She drew herself up once again and opened her wings, the dull green shining in the light of the stable. She batted her eyes, a gentleness in them that Javar knew she was capable of. Her mandibles clicked almost invitingly and she flapped her wings just a little and then made herself look smaller, glancing away almost shyly before looking back. “Perfect. I think that display will do nicely. If I were a dragon myself I’d find you very tempting,” Asmodea completely brightened up at her rider’s praise. She supposed it wasn’t too bad if it made her rider so proud of her.