A New Beginning

Chapter 38

Tessa's POV:

I sat up with a trill when Soranto and Tkael arrived. Quickly, I flew to the perch above the hallway entrance and waited with a grin. As they passed beneath, I dropped several big leaves on them.

Tkael kept on walking, ignoring the leaves like they didn't exist. Soranto caught one mid-air and began spinning the stem between his fingers, causing the leaf to whirl around in fascinating patterns.

I swooped down to his shoulder so I could peer at it more closely. He held it up, allowing me to see it easier. My head tilted as the leaf kept dancing in an erratic fashion. I tried to commit it to memory to share with Abby later. I somehow doubted that my own hands would be able to manage this.

Soranto kept spinning the leaf as he sat down. After a while, I grew tired of watching it and extended my claws as I swatted it. The spinning leaf disintegrated into confetti.

He examined the rather tattered stem. "Now what am I supposed to do with it? Ah, I know."

With a quick movement, the stem tickled my belly. I squealed at the unexpected comeback and flared my wings, unintentionally tapping his head. He ignored the light buffet as he focused on tickling me with his newfound weapon.

The frayed ends of the stem found my toes next, causing me to dance as I tried to avoid the previously innocent leaf. I slapped his wrist with my tail and managed to snag the stem between my teeth. Instead of tugging it out of his grip, my teeth bit right through the stem.

I spat the piece out and it bounced off his knee to land on the floor. The little bit left in Soranto's hand wasn't enough to be a threat to my sensitive skin. He chuckled, clearly enjoying our little game.

It abruptly cut off as he tensed up. I quickly followed his gaze and also gawked. Mom glided in our direction and gracefully backwinged onto Soranto's other shoulder. Her expression was less than impressed.

She angled her head to stare directly into his face with narrowed eyes. I wasn't even sure if Soranto was daring to breathe. After several very long, tense seconds, she inhaled slowly before sneezing violently in his face.

With a loud snort, she turned and flew back to the heat lamp. Soranto exhaled heavily in relief as his muscles relaxed.

He raised a hand to wipe his face. "Wow. I didn't expect that."

Tkael was watching Mom. "Neither did I. She didn't actually try to injure you, which is kind of surprising considering her usual actions." He glanced at Taureen. "You didn't tell her to do that, did you?"

"No, I was just sitting here," Taureen replied.

Tkael furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "She's never shown any inclination of going near Soranto before. It makes me wonder if it has something to do with how much time Tessa has been spending with him. Her behavior is rubbing off on a few fledglings in the park; perhaps it is also affecting her parents."

"I think I will retract my wish for Tasha to come to me," Soranto quietly said. "For a moment, I was worried that she was going to flame me."

"It was very deliberate," Tkael muttered. "I really wish that someone would manage to track and observe the wild ones. The members of the flock interact a lot, and this is likely one of the interactions that we haven't managed to observe yet. I'm positive such an intentional action means something."

Soranto asked Taureen, "Any ideas? You know her best."

Taureen gazed at the curled up golden dragonet under the heat lamp. "It's just a guess, but I would almost say that she has finally accepted your presence. She hasn't hissed or growled at you for over two weeks now."