museboxofmuses | DRAGON AU

DRAGON AU

Prometheus hibernated a lot.

There wasn't much else to do, as a hermit-dragon. He couldn't venture out into the world in case some intrepid 'adventurer' wanted to slay him for bragging rights or his hide, he couldn't mingle with other dragons because he was one of Nidhogg's brood (a fact which was why he couldn't socialise with any Ishgardians because spears inevitably got involved in those conversations, he knew, he still had the scar on his hindquarters from his last naive attempt), and he knew absolutely no one else, knew nothing about the world or its new continents or civilisations, so hibernating it was.

But even then, sleeping got dull.

Prometheus sighed deeply, drawing his wings tighter about himself. Perhaps it was because he spent so much time sleeping, but his draconic body evolved to have furred wings - which was nice, it was very warm, even if they did shed some strange, fluffy black motes from time to time (he soon learned that these motes were highly toxic to mortals, probably from his subconscious desire to be left alone slipping into this body's maturing evolution). The downy undercoat of his wings was shed often and thickly enough that he even had a little nest, in a cave warmed by geothermic means, in the high mountains of Coethas. It was cosy, safe, and isolated.

It was also boring and devoid of anything. Prometheus came here... fuck, centuries? Or millennia? He couldn't remember. A long while, just after the war between Ishgard and the dragons kicked off in earnest. He flew here as a dragonnet, and slept and slept and slept, with miserable waking moments in between where he went to stretch his wings, eat a bear or something, and crawled back in his warm, soft cave to sleep some more.

He was avoiding reality, he knew. He didn't understand why he woke up in the form of a dragon - an alien species, not native to their star, how the hell did the reincarnation cycle mess up that badly!? - what happened to Amaurot, why the geography was completely different and... where Hades and Hythlodaeus were. He remembered, in the early days of his life, he would cry out through the Lifestream to hear nothing back, and was slowly accepting that, maybe, it was just him. Alone.

No Hades. No Hythlodaeus. Just him and his cave.

He exhaled heavily, flexing his claws as his body sluggishly roused from its latest bout of hibernation. His stomach was an empty pit of starvation, so he had to eat something calorie dense before dozing back off again. The only thing was, it took ages for his body to fully 'wake up'. Spending centuries practically in a coma made his limbs lock up, and it took a while for the aether flowing through his body to regain strength and feeling in them again. Not that he was in any rush...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's true. Dragons can change their form to suit their environment within a few decades."

It really interested Prometheus, how susceptible to change a dragon's form was. Their genetics were highly unstable - yet also stable, for no mutation was detrimental to the organism. Their long lives were due to their cell division being high efficient, the wear and tear on telomeres negligible, and the sheer depth of their aether stores. Honestly, in Prometheus's opinion, a dragon as a biological organism was far more advanced than an Amaurotine. Such a shame they were content to lounge around like intelligent beasts, though...

Prometheus was pulled out of his academic musings by Hades getting swallowed up by the bubbles, and he smiled indulgently at the quivering bubble pile that concealed him.

"Hades?" he asked, his voice lilting playfully, "Do you need rescuing from that bubble prison of yours?"

“Oh, let me languish. My troubles ever seem to nip at my heels,” and though he said this, he pushed himself off his seat into Prometheus’ arms. “There is much work to be done soon,” he said as he hung wetly off of his friend.

He nestled in, the beginnings of his stubble poking against Prometheus’ neck. “If I remember properly, there will be a convocation meeting sooner than later... And I have so few secrets left, Fourteenth.”

Hades closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. They had to face this before too much was destroyed.

Prometheus grunted at scratchy stubble scratching against his neck, digging his fingers into Hades's wet hair and scraping it back into a semi-neat style.

"Fourteenth... I think that's an ill-fitting title for me now," Prometheus said gently, curling a damp lock around his finger, "You know, I think you just need to stop stressing for today. C'mon, our kid was just born. You can set this stuff aside to stress over later and take this time to just, y'know, get your head on straight."

Besides, Prometheus was determined to sit in this idyllic bubble of theirs. If Elidibus or the others came knocking, Prometheus would meet them with the same ferocity of a mother dragon defending her nest from intruders. If they complained about it, he'll- well, he couldn't eat them, or kill them, but he could be incredibly annoying and unpleasant when he wanted to be.

"You wanna go check on Aza?" Prometheus suggested, "I mean, I just realised, if Elidibus and Lahabrea came back, Aza'd have no idea who they were and might bite them or something..."

"And they would deserve it. They've lost all their manners over the years. I alone have bothered to make any sort of homes for myself, so I still understand the courtesy of knocking. Of privacy." Not that he always did, or that anyone expected him to do it. But the idea of checking on Aza made him feel more at ease.

"I'll bring our son here. I bet he still smells like dragon spit and the inside of an eggshell." He picked up a soft-bristled brush and did away with all the dirt under his nails. He scrubbed at his body with soap in a utilitarian sort of way that Prometheus had likely never seen before before standing.

He tossed his legs over the edge and pulled a towel around his waist without bothering to properly dry. "I'll be just a moment."

And just a moment he was, returning with the squirming child. He held him gingerly under the armpits to let him dip his tail or a toe into the water. "Heaven's sake, I really had grown noseblind to your maw, hadn't I? He smells so much like your breakfast. Do you understand, Azeyma? You're stinky!"

Edited 2020-01-21 00:05 (UTC)

Aza didn't seem overly pleased about being called stinky, lifting his hindlegs and tail and curling up like a furry armadillo, narrowing avoiding his toes getting dipped into the warm water. Narrow, golden eyes squinted up at Hades in a full blown sulk, Aza's tongue poking out in a defiant blep.

"Nnnnh- nnyah!" Aza protested loudly.

Prometheus laughed, lounging against the side of the bath and not helping Hades in the slightest, content to just watch the situation unfold, "I don't think he likes hearing he's stinky, babe."

“Oh, the truth stings, doesn’t it? But it isn’t your fault that you’re stinky, but ours! ...And especially Prometheus’... You’re the one who licked him “clean”, after all. No wonder I couldn’t smell it properly, I’ve been kissing you.”

Hades stepped carefully into the bath, not bothering to remove the towel with his hands already occupied. He remained standing as he shifted his grip to hold Azeyma properly like a baby. With his other hand he scooped up some water to let it trickle onto one of his paw-claws.

“See? Nice and warm,” Hades said gently. “It shouldn’t be too hot for you, hm? You’re tougher than the average infant.”

Aza still seemed dubious, but he did flap his little paws a little, licking at the droplets of water clinging to his fur. It seemed his pelt was slightly hydrophobic, and with how fluffy he was, able to trap air between the thick fur, he'd probably buoy very easily on the water's surface.

"Just dunk him in there," Prometheus said, resting his cheek on his knuckles, his hand loosely curled into a fist, "He'll float... I think."

And if not, hey, dragons had massive air capacity for assisting in flight and their elemental breathing. Aza wouldn't drown in the 0.2 seconds it'd take for Hades to fish him out in a blind panic.

Hades stared at Prometheus for a moment.

“I think he’s experienced enough betrayal from me for one day,” Hades said with a grimace. “Considering my sigil earlier...”

Hades looked at Aza, then started to slowly lower him into the water up to his neck.

Aza started squeaking when he was lowered into the water, but as he was submerged, that squeaking started to take on a cautiously curious trill, and he stopped his vain struggling to just. sit there. staring at Prometheus in clear confusion while Prometheus stared back with open amusement.

"I forgot how great kids were," he said, laughing when Aza turned his confused stare directly up at Hades, as if bewildered that the water didn't kill him or whatever he thought would happen, "Aza, you silly! What'd you think would happen, huh?"

“He’s barely a couple hours old! But yes. Children are wonderful,” said the man who was routinely and easily annoyed by them back in Amaurot. Oh how times had changed.

He did not lessen his grip, but sat back down into the water before an idea came to mind. He conjured him a little floating inner tube and set him inside to allow him to explore the water on his own. Without making him fear drowning. He conjured a few bath toys and a small pitcher. He filled the pitcher with water and poured a little on his head.

He was the perfect picture of cuteness, surrounded in bubbles and flanked by toys. “Let’s wash the smell of your dad’s lunch off you, hm?”

Aza, after overcoming his initial wary confusion, quickly adjusted to his situation as all children did. His tiny paws clinging onto the tube, he clumsily paddled about with uncoordinated kicks of his back legs and flicks of his tail, making him slowly spin in a circle and go nowhere at all. Aza seemed to enjoy himself, though, swatting at the odd bubble that floated towards him and ignoring the water dribbling over his head.

"He doesn't smell that bad..." Prometheus grumbled, sniffing the air. All he smelled was meat, which made him feel a little hungry, "I think. Does he? I think my sense of smell is all screwed up because all I'm smelling is food."

Hades pumped a little soap onto his hand to massage it into Aza’s dampened head and neck fur.

“You’ve been living as a dragon for too long,” he said, not in an accusatory way. But it was certainly true. “If all you smell is food, then he definitely smells like your lunch.”

He gently rinsed the soap from his head, watching the fur spike and clump together.

“It remains to be seen if we’ll be able to recalibrate your senses, however.”

"My senses don't need 'recalibrating'," Prometheus grumbled, puffing at his fringe.

Aza sneezed abruptly, sending him floating backwards towards Hades at speed, until he gently bounced off of his chest. He squeaked in surprise, wriggling about until he was facing his father, and then eyed the broad expanse of chest critically, like he was trying to recall it from somewhere.

"I'll rather keep my draconic senses as is. Human ones feel dull in comparison," he continued, watching as Aza grew bored with Hades's chest and began kicking his back legs once more. He was quickly becoming more coordinated, and, while he obviously wasn't built to be aquatic, he was very rapidly leaning how to swim with a flotation device. Almost scarily quick. He was only a few hours old, geeze...

Hades warmed as he looked into Azeyma’s eyes. Such cleverness behind those eyes... He had such high hopes for his son. He was even talking a bit earlier... they should encourage that, shouldn’t they?

“My handsome son... Azeyma,” he stretched his broad soul out, enveloping him with such genuine love and adoration. He looked over Aza’s head to Prometheus.

“So, dearest, are you Papa or Daddy? I thought I’d want Father... But Dada is growing on me...” Hades was so wound up and enamored with little Azeyma.

Prometheus smiled.

"Dada, huh?" he chuckled, "Aw, man, I thought you'd keep to the stuffy formal one. To be honest, I can just be 'Prom'. Hythlodaeus can be Papa, probably."

After all, Prometheus felt weird taking on a parental mantle. He was too... something. Academically minded? He loved Aza, obviously, but at the same time it was tempered with a clinical kind of interest, a fascination in how the merging of Amaurotine and Draconic genetics would adapt to each other. It was the same fascination he felt in the emotional development of his Armigers, and while it didn't invalidate the love and affection he felt, it did tarnish his parental role. He felt, anyways.

Hades gave Prometheus such an irritated withering look. His lips parted slightly as he decided to bite off his words. He turned Aza’s inner tube so that he was facing Prometheus. He came in low and close, his head just an inch away from Aza’s as he pointed at Prometheus.

“This is your Daddy. Can you say “Daddy”, Aza?”

Prometheus twitched, "Hades..."

"Mmmrr?" Aza chirruped, snuffling at Hades's cheek before turning to look up at Prometheus. His soul was a bubbling little ball of gold and blue, his yellow eyes wide as he cocked his head like a bird. He looked absolutely adorable, and Prometheus barely squelched the urge cup his cheeks and smoosh them.

"Digigi!" Aza finally squeaked, then looked very pleased with himself, repeating 'digigi!' again and patting his inner tube enthusiastically with his large paws.

"Er, digigi...?" Prometheus repeated blankly.

“I’m not going to let you be so weird and impersonal with our child, Prometheus. In fact, you’ve barely held him. Go on, “digigi”, hold your son.”

Hades plucked him from the floatie, then set him, wet fur and all against Prometheus’ chest. His trailing tail still linked into the inner tube, and Haded would have gently pulled it, but it was so cutely curled around that he couldn’t bear to move it.

Prometheus grunted when Hades dumped the sopping wet dragonet against his chest, automatically grabbing Aza before he tumbled back into the water. Immediately, he got a wet nose against his cheek and Aza chewing on his hair, his little claws digging into his collarbone. He was... surprisingly heavy.

"Argh, no- Aza," he tilted his head, vainly trying to free his hair to no avail, and quickly gave up with a sigh, "My hair..."

"Digmnnngiigi..." Aza said around a mouthful of locks, giving a very hard tug, and then turned to look at Hades with a very pleased look about him.

Hades covered his mouth with a hand, only vaguely trying to conceal his laughter.

“Oh, it’ll grow back,” Hades said as if it wasn’t entirely within his power to fix it. And as if this wasn’t his fault anyway. Hades beamed at Azeyma, returning his joyful look. Even Hades’ soul was shimmering as he looked at him. He conjured a wooden wide-toothed comb, handing it to Prometheus.

“See if he’ll let you stretch out his wings... I’d like to see.” Hades could imagine easily with his eons of understanding and observation about such things. But there could be surprises yet, couldn’t there? He wondered when they might expect Aza to start flying...

Prometheus whined childishly, "But I'm getting dragon slobber in my hair..."

But, really, he wasn't overly annoyed about it. After a while he got used to the sharp tugging and just let his head naturally tilt into the yanks, his expression one of patient tolerance. He took the proffered comb, adjusting his grip around Aza so he could prop him up against his chest with one hand, freeing the other for a proper grooming.

"His wings? Well, they're kinda undeveloped right now, so not sure how sophisticated they'll be," he mused, gently tugging at the pointed wingtip tucked close to Aza's elbow. It was easy enough to gently pull and spread the furry membrane, though Aza made a disgruntled noise and moved his arm away before Prometheus got a good look at the quality of the underdeveloped wings, snapping the membrane shut.

"Hm, sorta wyvern like, but without compromising the foreleg structure," Prometheus said, sinking the comb into Aza's sodden fur along his back and gently brushing it out, "I think he'll be more of a glider than a flier."

"And you got dragon slobber in his first," Hades said, leaning his face against his hand. "How the tables have turned."

"Aww, he doesn't like that," Hades said sweetly. "He'll be whatever he wants if he inherits a decent amount of utility of his Creation." Hades slid around to sit next to Prometheus. It was fun to watch Azeyma bully him, but that habit would be terrible once he was any bigger.

"You're chewing so much... Does it simply feel good, or are you teething...?" Hades risked a finger against his mouth, pushing his lip up to look at his teeth.

Aza stopped gnawing on Prometheus's hair when Hades probed at his mouth, though this meant he shifted targets to said finger, latching onto it. It felt like getting nibbled on by a puppy, the chewing not painful but clearly a risk for giving a nasty bite once his fangs sharpened up a bit more. He had a full set of teeth, but they weren't quite needle sharp just yet.

"Oi, no," Prometheus scolded, pausing his brushing and grabbing Aza's snout, forcing him off Hades's finger and keeping his mouth shit as he gave him a firm stare, "Do not bite people like that."

Aza whined, but when Prometheus let go of his snout, he didn't move to chew anything again. Instead he rested his chin on Prometheus's collarbone, heaving a loud, dramatic huff as he clearly sulked, doing the dragonet equivalent of a pout.

“Oh, poor baby... Your first day on the star and you’ve already been scolded twice,” Hades cooed, leaning in to kiss him between the eyes. He let his soul roll over Azeyma’s in soothing waves. He rested his arm over the two of them, cuddling close.

“Be a little kinder, mm? I know it comes from the right place, but...” Hades gazed into Azeyma’s eyes, becoming more lovestruck as the moments passed.

“Maybe you wouldn’t stick everything in your mouth if you had hands,” he mused as he touched his little paw pads.

"Maybe you should stop spoiling him so much," Prometheus said sarcastically, dragging the comb through Aza's thick fur along his back, "He's still a dragon, Hades. He can't go round biting anything that makes him curious willy nilly."

What happened if he bit Hythlodaeus really badly by accident and ended up with blood all over the place? It'd be traumatising for everyone involved! No, Prometheus would play stern parent if it meant mitigating those disastrous possibilities. Ugh, look what death and reincarnation had done to him. He was being responsible.

Gross.

"Here, be a darling and hold his tail would you?" Prometheus said, wagging his brush pointedly, "I don't have enough hands."

DRAGON AU

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