Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 43

I yawned from under the heat lamp as Taureen exited his room. "Good morning."

I stretched my wings as I replied, "Good morning."

Now that he figured out I could talk, he was probably going to talk to me more now than he had in the past. Although come to think of it, he did talk a fair bit to me before he realized that I understood him. I just never responded in words he could understand.

He left the back door open as he went out into the garden. After a bit more stretching to warm up my muscles, I flew out to the garden. He was unlocking the back gate, and I could already see Aeria coming down the street.

I took my usual perch as I waited for the sun to grace us with its light. With a cry of joy, I sprang into the air. I loved the feeling that the Morning Song created; there was so much joy and delight in the new day that my heart simply couldn't hold it all and let it spill out in song and dance for all to enjoy.

Once the song ended, I glided over to land on Taureen's shoulder. I nuzzled his chin while humming, and he gently stroked my wing. Aeria watched the two of us interact with a faint look that reminded me of envy. She hid it before I could really tell though.

He moved the bowl of fruit beside his leg and uncovered it. The pieces were a bit larger today. He held one in his hand, although I noticed that the bowl was in a spot where I could eat from it if I wanted.

I jumped down to his lap and gently took the piece from his hand. It was still small enough that I didn't need to use my hands to eat it. I decided to ignore the bowl that he was leaving open as per his promise.

Part of it was to keep up appearances with Aeria here, and part of it was because it didn't really bother me at this point. I was going to eat my fill of a variety of fruits that were otherwise unavailable to me if I had been in the wild. Had I still been human, it would have been a bit degrading, but as a dragonet, it really didn't matter.

Aeria and Taureen kept offering me pieces until I was full. Once more, Taureen brought out the cleaning kit, and this time he did the cleaning himself while Aeria watched.

I murmured sleepily as Taureen picked me up off of his lap and cradled me in his arms. I had fallen asleep during the oiling and blinked sleepily at the world around me. Taureen escorted Aeria to the back door and let her out before heading inside.

He sat down on the couch and placed me on his lap once more. I stretched, although I remained lying on his lap as I looked at him with still-drowsy eyes. He seemed amused. "Does the oiling really affect you so, or is it partly an act?"

I contemplated the heavenly feeling of the muscles being massaged and skin being hydrated before pushing the feelings into his mind without words. He blinked slowly, somewhat stunned from the foreign emotions entering his mind. It had caught him off guard since he hadn't been expecting it. He still wasn't used to my words in his head, and I had not yet used plain emotions as an answer.

I apologized, "Sorry, I forgot that you might not be used to such a method of communication."

He refocused on me. "No worries. It was interesting."

Curiosity ate at me and I tilted my head in inquiry. "How do my emotions compare to yours? I know in theory that our races can somewhat feel the same emotions, but how they are felt must be different."

He thought for a moment before replying, "Yours seem more simplistic and primal. Mine are almost always tempered by other thoughts and emotions, quite analytical and evaluating. We see things from every angle and have a hard time focusing on just one emotion. Perhaps my race thinks too much, or that is what several other races claim at any rate."