Breath of Fresh Air

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Grandpa Jenkins clapped his hands together. "Aye! Let's get to it, then."

Over the next few hours, dinner was cooked and served, along with lemon bars for dessert. Axle, Noah, Lily, and Pumpkin brought their dinner along to the Hatchery so Jasper and Nel could go home and eat fresh dinner.

Axle had brought an extra serving of dinner and dessert for Malia when she arrived, as well as the promised supplies like blankets, pillows, books, and a few other odds and ends. "How's the egg holding up, you two?" he asked.

Noah leaned in close to the egg and smiled. "I can hear it chirp once in a while. I think it's going well."

Pumpkin chirped back at the egg. And, very gingerly, he settled into the nest and curled up around it. He was much more relaxed around the egg though, and most of the group knew he'd be able to be picked up and moved without fuss.
 
Bored out of his mind, Jasper had struck up idle conversation with Nel while the others were away, but when relief came he was all too eager to get out of the small room. Nel only smiled and watched Naga carefully while Pumpkin got close to the egg, worried she might try to fight about it, but though she was tense and watched very closely, huffing under her breath about it, she didn't try to push the other dragon away.

"Come on, grumpy," Jasper urged, reaching to gently touch her tail to draw her attention and patting the bricks beside him to get her to come closer. "You want dinner, don't you? You can come right back after, I promise. The egg's not going anywhere."

She growled about it a little, clearly displeased with the idea, but did slowly begin inching away from the nest with her eyes on Pumpkin and the egg the whole time.

"Oh, she's jealous. . ." Lily murmured, watching but not stepping on Jasper's toes by getting any closer. "It'll be all right, little Naga. We'll keep the baby nice and safe."

Her voice drew the small dragon's eye, at least, and after looking around at all of them she did finally decide that it would be okay to run out and eat very quickly and then come back. Axle had helped save Nobu when he was hurt, and Lily was her housemate and always took care of her and Nobu, and the others were friendly enough. She would just eat quickly.

"Good girl," Jasper praised gently when she finally started to hurry to the door, and carefully picked Nobu up into his arms to follow. "All right, let's go get supper."

Nel hesitated, but after a moment he did get up to follow. "I guess a little while should be okay. . ." Surely Malia would drop by soon and then there would be someone else around who could handle it if the egg hatched. If not, Lily and Infernus would move fast to get someone, he was sure. It was all right to take care of his own needs and go eat something.
 
Noah couldn't help but giggle a little bit when Naga huffed a bit and acted grumpy when Pumpkin approached the egg, and when she got scooped up and carted away to dinner. She reminded him a bit of Jasper that way - stubborn and sometimes grumpy, but very kind. "Heh. The family resemblance is strong, Jasper. She's got your personality," he teased.

Once the pair left, he turned to Lily and grinned. "Hopefully Malia gets here soon, huh? But I guess between the four of us, especially Pumpkin's instincts, we'll be prepared if the egg hatches."

The egg peeped quietly, and Pumpkin craned his neck up and gently licked it.

". . . Right?" Noah asked.


Once the group arrived home, Opal went up to Jasper and nodded, making sure to give Naga a respectful amount of space. "Hey. Um . . . I wanted to tell Naga thank you. She saved my life. I - I remembered, when I was talking to the police," he added softly. "Can I give her a treat? A big piece of the roast beef we're having for supper, maybe?"
 
Jasper made faces at Noah as he walked out like he'd said something crazy again, but just waved goodbye over his shoulder rather than try to respond.

When he was gone Lily gave a soft, uncertain little laugh and tapped her fingers together as if mulling it over. "Well, uh . . . I can run pretty fast?" She thought it was funny, at least, but thankfully for all of their nerves it only took another ten minters or so for Malia to show.

"How is it doing?" She asked as she entered, though she knew none of them likely had a clue what to expect from it. "Still making noise? Have you added wood to the fire yet?" The egg was nice and warm, and the fire would eventually help draw it out when it was ready to hatch. Hopefully when it was finally time they would find it healthy despite its time in the lake.


Naga, uncharacteristically anxious to get dinner over with and go back to the egg, almost scampered right past everyone on her way in, only stopping because Jasper was setting Nobu down to let the healing dragon move around a little on his own and she needed to check on him. She looked up at Opal with a soft, confused little rumble, wondering why he'd used her name.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jasper said with a frown, unsure what was going on, "but, yeah I guess? I'll just set a little bite aside for Nobu so he doesn't get jealous." What did Opal mean, saved his life? Was he rambling again?
 
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