Pair Bonds

Traveling on the back of his dragon, Isabella was quite excited to bring him somewhere new today. Going on and on excitedly about another dragon he thought? She was talking a bit too quickly for the young cat boy to understand after just rolling out of Ryou's bed. Something he wasn't about to go into detail with anyone, and glad it had been his sweet if excitable raptor to barge in rather than Malice. "Could you go a bit slower Issy? You're killing my tailbone." The sleek black tail twitching lightly behind him, Diem technically didn't even have time for breakfast when his dragon hurried him out.

The dam did slow down for him though, going from a full out spring to a smoother trot. He could tell she was still in a hurry to get them wherever they were headed, but he patted her neck in thanks. She was a good girl. One that he could hopefully catch a small cat nap on on the way as the black cat leaned into her short mane of fur as a pillow.

“Alphonse, please calm down. I’m sure Isabella’s rider is very nice and will understand any mishaps that could appear. Not everything has to be perfect...” Standing there with his unamused gaze after the warm colored dragon, he watched Al nervously put the cups back down and stare up at Gerold, his bottom ‘lip’ sticking out just a but before Gerold sighed and started pouring the short armed boy some coffee to set out, along with helping arrange the snacks they made the previous day.

“It has to be perfect! I’m meeting my wife’s rider!”

“Soon to be wife, Al. Just calm down, she says how nice he is all the time. Along with how gay he is, I’m sure he’s very lovely.” Sitting down at the table to read one of his books, Gerold left his dragon to it, peering over the pages to watch the dragon pace back and forth, before running off to try and find gems for his wife. She always loved those, maybe her rider would too.... Or that was the dragon’s logic anyways.

Having a nice nap on his dragon's back, Diem yawned when he heard his name being called along with some gentle wiggling from his comfy stead. "Issy, five more minutes..." he yawned, pressing his face further in the dam's mane. Giggling lightly, she reached back with her fuzzy paws to pat at her rider's legs. "Nooo, Diem, common Diem, we're almost here. You're going to love him so much! So so much! Not as much as me, but so much!" She trotted a little slower to give the sleepy kitty some more time to wake up, but five minutes was literally all they had as they approached the breeding grounds.

Thankfully by then, the black cat was rubbing at his golden eyes that lit up so brightly in the sunlight. "Gerold! We're here! Lookie, this is my rider Diem!" She hurried up to the angel that stuck out like a sore thumb even in the light with his strikingly white clothing. Lowering himself from his dragon, the blunt cat was the type to point such a thing out too. "You're really hard to look at."

Sipping one tea as Al stacked some gems neatly on the table, he was so pleased to have missed a small vein that earned him quite an assortment of colors. Gerold took the liberty of cleaning them off with some warm water and a cloth. Being told to wash up quickly before the guest got there, Alphonse went to splash in the ocean water before he returned and was still dripping wet by the time the pair were trotting up.

“You’re still wet Alphonse, go grab a towel, you don't want to give Bella wet and cold hugs, now do you?”

“Nooooooo.” Hanging his head, Al was off again, just barely vanishing into the shed to grab a  towel he’d drap around him before returning excitedly to see Bella and her rider.

Looking up to Diem as he was sipping from the porcelain cup, he hummed as he set it down, looking over the male before also setting his book down.

“You should learn to curb your tongue young one, it’s not a quality looked up upon when courting. But come have a seat, there are snacks and drinks laid out for us to enjoy as the pair go through their ceremony today.”

Blinking, Diem tilted his head to the side slightly, often being told by Ryou the same thing, just in less words, mainly to watch his words. Rubbing the back of his neck, the feline did at least look more on the apologetic side as he came over to sit with the other rider. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean you're ugly or anything. You're really pretty looking, it's just the sun makes you shine too brightly." As a nocturnal creature, the light of the day star was already bright enough to make his eyes turn to slits in his partial form. He adored lighter colored things, but unfortunately such brilliant ones made him squint.

The snacks were more than welcome though as his stomach rumbled softly at the sight. To his credit, Diem was still raised a nobleman, thanking Gerold before picking one up to munch instead of starting to dig into the whole plate like most kids his age would.

Isabella was more than happy with how good the angel was with gently reprimanding her admittedly too honest rider. She knew they would get along swimmingly! Looking around, she had seen Alphonse going to and from in the distance, but hopefully he would be staying this time as she saw him approaching them once again. Getting those happy tail wiggles, she was quick to meet him halfway and show how much she had missed her soon to be husband. "Is everything ready?" she questioned excitedly, nuzzling up against the side of his head. Careful of the fangs, but at times it was funny how they would catch on one another without meaning to.

“It is fine, young one. The curse of being an angel as I am, the price I pay for the many other gifts I received.” Sipping his tea a little bit more, Gerold minded not the younger generation but found them oh so derpy and needed guidance. Not that all of the younglings appreciated help nor understood his suggestions all the time as he meant them. All the same, it was nice to have company on such nice days. “We can chat as the dragons are away, I’ve heard so much about you from Bella. Quite gay I hear.” His eyes sang in amusement as Diem flustered, but only chuckling he pushed that aside to let the other drink and snack.

Returning from the shed with a large towel wrapped around him, Alphonse went straight at his wife, his damp hair rubbing against her as he was hoping she would come soon and here she was! He felt sad that he didn’t get to greet her when she arrived, but that was fine as she always was so excited to see him, about as excited as he was to see her all the time!

“Yes! Gerold allowed me to put things in one of the storage sheds for today. More gems and decorations are always welcome though, you can never have enough!” Swishing his tail back and forth and careful of his spikes, he led his wife back to where an area was packed with many types of fluff, both natural and synthetic as Gerold also used it for lining the less soft nests that other dragons would make and want to keep. “There has just been a new batch of hatchings too. They have many legs, but are sleeping currently. Maybe they can test out the egg nest once awake?” He suggested, wiggling his small arms at Isabella before they managed to touch her and please the sir.

Happily trotting off with Alphonse, Isabella turned back one last time to wave at the pair of riders. She could feel those embarrassed, bubbly feelings coming from her dear cat rider, but was so pleased that he had been denying her gay claims of him less and less. To her it meant he simply was liking Ryou more and more, and that was exactly what she hoped for! It didn't leave any less room in his heart to be happy for her either as they waved back, silently wishing her well while her own new husband whisked her away.

"Ooooh, yes! I brought at least one more for it because it reminded me of you!" She of course couldn't show it off right away, she wanted to see the nest first to find the perfect spot for it in the perfect moment! For their trip there, she preferred simply enjoying the moment alone together. They both might have arms on the shorter side, but reaching together, it was easier to hold one another's claw and paw.

When they reached the storage area, she couldn't help but gasp at all the sparkly gems and trinkets! "It's perfeeect!" she squeed, a little unladylike. She was pretty sure she'd be forgiven however as she hurried inside, pulling out a rather impressive aquamarine that looked just like the bubbly gems embedded in Alphonse's neck. It made such a pretty centerpiece, she was glad she had gotten Ryou to help her polish and cut it properly.

Adding a little more fluff to the nest as Bella came in after him, Al was proud to have made such a nice nest for the two of them when it came time to fill it with eggs. It wasn’t extremely large, maybe enough room for about 6 eggs at the moment, but he was sure he could expand it when it came time and he left Bella to roost on the eggs as he was a good husband and made sure he provided.

Starting to bring over the basket full of many other gems that he found when scouring the land for things to put in their nice roosting box, he gasped as he looked at the gem that mimicked his own. It didn’t slosh around like the water would when he moved it, but it looked like it could! That made it all the more special that she thought of him when she came across it.

“It’s so lovely! We can put it right where we’d be laying together.” Gasping, as he looked at the nest, he realized it would look so much prettier with more gems. He hadn’t found many, but what would be more lovely than a bejeweled nest. “Let’s go grab the small pile I left on the table, we can use those too. After that maybe the hatchlings will be ready for more nest lays, Gerold has to feed them soon and all.” Wagging his tail like an excited dog, it was just enjoyable to know that soon Bella would be his real wife! Though he felt like she already was, lots of people tried to tell him differently. He’d show them though!

Nosing around a couple of the other gems, Isabella wasn't particularly picky about where they were or their angle, but she did enjoy merely touching the pretty things her dear Alphonse had decorated with for her. He even liked her own addition too! Which was probably the most important thing. The Dam would have been devastated if her dear dino didn't like the similar gem. It wouldn't have stopped her from trying to bring back something else on another visit though.

Nodding, putting together even more to build up the nest sounded like a wonderful idea! As a proper earth dragon, she also thought there was no such thing as too many jewels for... well.. anything! "That sounds divine~ let's go then!" More than excited as well, the balled tail of hers started wiggling as well, reaching out for Alphonse's hand.

Reaching out his small arms, his little claws wrapped around her paws as they ran out, close together as their arms were on the shorter side, but that didn’t matter to Alphonse as he loved being close to the dear waifu. Not far from the riders who were chatting and eating, Gerold seemed calm as he normally was, chuckling at Diem with his emotionless face that still had some life but not the joy or smiles you’d get from the very friendly people you’d usually find when out and about. He was by no means unkind, just didn’t show his emotions so easily. Scooping up the small pile of gems, in the distance the sound of the hatchlings playing caught his attention. Tugging Bella towards the noise, Alphonse wanted to show her the weird but cute too many legged children! Horses with 6 legs, strange goopy creatures with 8, even bipedal looking ones with a few rips and tears that had two sets of arms and a set of legs! It was so amazing what dragons could be. All were still small though, playing with each other as the two approached.

“See, here are the too many legged children! They are cute but funny looking, not sure why.”

Tails wiggling in unison, one would think that would be out of necessity given the spikes coming out of the side of Alphonse's. But no, Isabella's skin was also hard as a rock, it wasn't so easy to injure the dam. Seeing the riders enjoying themselves still, she was glad Diem didn't mind the stoic angel. Part of her had been worried the black cat would be as displeased with the usually emotionless face as he tended to be with other nobles, but it seemed he could easily tell the difference between a poker face hiding malice and just someone's calm exterior.

Helping to gather up the gems as well, at least Isabella had arms much more suited to holding things. She hadn't grabbed all she wanted when Alphonse started pulling her away. Snatching up ooone more gem before they were out of reach, she made big confused eyes at him that didn't last long. Soon turning to happy excited ones, So many leggies! and some of them even had two mouths. She wondered if that meant they ate twice as much too. "Do you think they like gems as well?" Though she didn't want to share the gems that her husband had collected, she at least wouldn't mind if all the funny children wanted to come see the nest and play for a bit. Probably after something to eat, "Maybe we could all have a nice nest nap together after setting the gems in?"

Thinking it over, Al wasn’t sure, but calling out to the children he supposed they were about to find out as the small all stopped what they were doing and came rushing at the pair to play and have a small snack with them (that of course was laid out by Gerold who knew they’d awake and hunger).

It was a pleasant time of lunch and then play, followed by leading the small group back to the nest to snuggle into while the pair decorated the layout with gems. Snuggling into their wonderful gem encrusted nest, with smalls laying under them and wriggling about, Al laid his head on Bella, enjoying the calm time with his wife as the sun slowly sank from high in the sky to low