Tessa’s POV:

  The days passed seamlessly, full of fun things like flying, swimming, and playing in the backyard.

  I yawned and stretched my wings beneath the heat lamp as I woke up from my nap. Dirk snored beside me, still fast asleep. I noticed the two Kymari guests were on the other side of the room.

  Mom was glowering at them again. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t like them. They never even looked at her. They simply visited with Taureen and Aeria like they did every evening.

  My stomach rumbled, so I went over to the food bowls and picked out my favorite pieces. I left a raspberry for Dirk, although Mom would probably eat it if he didn’t wake up soon. Dad was lounging on Aeria’s lap while she diligently buffed the scales on his back and wings.

  As I got a drink of water, I heard Dirk yawn. I spread my wings and flew a few laps around the room before landing on a wall perch. I nibbled on an itchy spot on my back. Rustling my wings, I looked down, but to my dismay, Dirk was already on Taureen’s lap. I snorted faintly and shook myself; the motion didn’t produce any sound, but neither did it relieve the growing itch on my wings and back.

  I twisted and tried to scratch the itch several times, but I couldn’t reach between my shoulder blades with my front or back claws. The itch was driving me crazy, and trying to chew on it with my teeth wasn’t working very well. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

  Swooping down, I landed beside Taureen and grabbed the small vial of oil in my mouth. I could barely get my jaws around it, but I managed to hold it securely. With a jump and a quick wingbeat, I glided over to our guests. They were friends of Taureen, so they probably wouldn’t mind helping me while Taureen and Aeria were busy.

  Soranto had always seemed more easygoing than Tkael, so I angled my flight toward him. I wasn’t used to carrying something, and I almost lost my balance when I tried to land on his knee, although I still managed a good landing without digging my claws in.

  Folding my wings, I gazed up at him. He seemed oddly still, as if he was holding his breath. He also looked somewhat worried. I tilted my head as I examined his worried expression.

  I ignored Mom’s hiss from under the heat lamp as I tried to figure out why both Kymari suddenly seemed tense. The vial of oil was still in my mouth as I tilted my head and attempted to trill at him, hoping he’d take the hint.

  He was focused on something across the room. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mom on her feet with her wings half-unfurled as she glared at Soranto with narrowed eyes. Taureen also appeared somewhat concerned as Mom hissed and curled her claws into the sand.

  Even Dad was sitting up alertly, somehow ignoring Aeria as she massaged the oil into his shoulders. Dirk was snoring on Taureen’s lap.

  “Why are you hissing?” I asked Mom, confused by her stance. Had I done something wrong?

  After several long seconds, she sneezed violently before slowly settling back down on the sand. Her glare didn’t ease up, nor did she fold her wings or spread them out under the heat lamp. I could still hear her growling.

  She hadn’t answered, so I tried again. “What’s wrong?”

  She still didn’t reply. Something was making her unhappy, but I couldn’t figure out what or why. Her gaze rested on Soranto, so I probably wasn’t the one in trouble. Dad also watched intently, oddly alert. Their reactions confused me, almost as if Soranto was a threat. Mom and Dad had never told us to be careful around these two.

  “Is he bad?” I tentatively inquired, halfway scared that I had unknowingly stumbled into danger.

  After a long moment, Mom reluctantly replied, “No.”

  I faintly sighed in relief, although the various emotions behind her voice didn’t help with my confusion. My back was still itchy, and my jaw was starting to hurt from holding the vial. I dropped the vial beside Soranto’s hand. When he didn’t move, I nudged it closer until it bumped against his fingers. He remained motionless, still not taking the hint.

  With a faint snort of exasperation, I spread my wings and creeled at him. The begging noise always worked, and my bright red wings weren’t exactly easy to ignore.

  He glanced down, before his gaze shifted to Mom, and then back to me. Moving very slowly, he opened the vial and put his finger over the opening as he tipped it, letting the oil touch his fingers.

  With equally slow movements, he righted the vial and—finally!—rubbed his finger along my back. I hummed happily as the itch slowly disappeared wherever the oil was spread. His touch was very light and delicate, barely brushing my scales.

  I lay down and let my wings rest on his legs so he could oil them as well.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Taureen quietly said, “Tasha, come.”

  He placed Dirk under the heat lamp and held out his hand to Mom. Her gaze turned to him for a long moment, before returning to me, and then back to him. With a heavy sigh, she got up and stepped onto his wrist. He cuddled her against his chest and began massaging oil from another vial into her shoulders. Eventually, she lowered her chin until it rested on his forearm, still watching me.

  Tkael spoke softly, “That was close. I didn’t expect her to come right over like that.”

  “The fledglings have no reasons to fear Kymari,” Aeria quietly replied as she massaged oil into Dad’s wings. “They’ll be more outgoing than the wild ones, but we aren’t sure to what extent.”

  “That is true,” Tkael agreed. “At the moment, they are young, curious, and trusting. Some of it will likely fade as they mature, but as long as nothing spooks them, they probably won’t be as touchy as the wild-caught adults. Time will tell if their reaction to sicora is an instinctive or a learned behavior.”

  Mom hissed faintly as her eyes moved to Tkael.

  “Easy, Tasha. There are none here,” Taureen reassured her. To Tkael, he said, “It’s likely instinctive, although if it is a learned behavior, it shouldn’t be too hard to rearrange the training area and use an old hide while the parents teach them.”

  “That would work, although I suspect it will be a while before they get to that stage.”

  Taureen nodded. “The wild ones take at least a year to reach their parents’ size. The Elders aren’t in a rush when it comes to training. They want them to be at least six months old before they start real patrols.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Tkael replied. “These are the first two youngsters in captivity, so the Elders would rather err on the side of caution. They will probably shift their approach once they see how well these two do. Am I correct in assuming that they want them to remain with their parents for quite some time?”

  “Yes,” Taureen replied, “as long as the parents accept their presence, there is no real timeline. The Elders are hoping that they will begin to bond with a handler within the first six months and continue to have daily interactions with their parents for at least a year, preferably longer.”

  Soranto quietly murmured, “I’m enjoying how soft and smooth her scales are, but she’s so tiny that I’m scared of hurting her simply by touching her. I have no idea how you handled them when they were smaller than this.”

  “Very gently. We make sure that their claws don’t get caught on anything when we pick them up, and we haven’t had any issues so far.”

  Soranto rubbed a finger behind my ear tufts; I leaned harder and thrummed when he found an itchy spot. The residual oil on his fingers made the itch disappear.

  A soft smile graced Soranto’s face. “She sure is a cute little thing.” His smile turned into a faint grin as he murmured, “I just hope that you don’t learn your mother’s social skills.”

  Taureen chuckled in the background as he offered Mom an orange berry. The berry also caught Dad’s interest, so Taureen passed one to Aeria.

  “Tkael, catch.” Taureen tossed another one across the room to Tkael, who caught it and passed it to Soranto.

  Soranto offered it to me, and I sniffed it before taking a small nibble. Delicious juice made my mouth water. I promptly sat up—the massage and oil forgotten—as I took the rest of the berry and quickly devoured the morsel.

  I investigated his fingers, but he didn’t have any more. My gaze moved to Taureen, who was once more massaging Mom’s shoulders. I flew over and landed on the couch beside him as I sniffed his pockets.

  “She didn’t seem to recognize it. Was that her first sunburst berry?” Tkael asked.

  Taureen nodded. “Yes. Most of what they have eaten so far are mild-flavored native fruits. We are sticking to things that the parents are giving them. Interestingly enough, they are expanding the types of fruits as time goes by.”

  There was a faint smell of the berries in one pocket, but when I poked my head inside, it was empty. I checked all of his pockets a couple of times before giving up. Sunburst berries were my new favorite, even better than cantaloupe!

  I shook my wings out and looked around. Dirk was sleeping under the heat lamp, but I didn’t feel like napping. My eyes focused on the wall perch directly overhead.

  I had never tried flying that far straight up, but I had seen Mom do it. I crouched down before jumping and spreading my wings for the first wingbeat. Flying straight up was different and much harder. My claws bit into the soft wood as I pulled myself up. I did it! The wall perch was big enough to lay down on as I watched the others below.

  “Their flying skills are certainly improving at an impressive rate,” Tkael observed. “No wonder we never located a nest. They must not stay in it for long.”

  “The parents are quite secretive and good at hiding them. We likely walked past several nests and never realized it,” Taureen replied. “We also know they will relocate a nest with almost any disturbance.”

  “Of course, even if we locate one, it wouldn’t be wise to go near it. There is a reason they are called fire lizards,” Tkael countered with an amused tone.

  Soranto snorted faintly. “Don’t forget about their claws. Those things can do a lot of damage. They aren’t exactly slow either.”

  Tkael nodded as he got to his feet. “Very true. But it is getting late, so I will take my leave.”

  Soranto got up too. “I should get going as well. Adeline and Maria should be back shortly.”

  “Hey, Soranto. Catch.” Taureen gently tossed a small orange object to him.

  A sunburst berry! Where did he manage to hide it? I had checked all of his pockets!

  Soranto easily caught the berry and held it between two of his fingers. I was already diving down before Mom or Dad decided they wanted the treat. In my excitement, I landed a bit too hard on his wrist and almost over-balanced, but I didn’t fall off. I took the berry with one hand and bit it in half, thoroughly enjoying the juicy treat.

  A warm finger brushed my back as I finished my snack. I trilled a thank-you at Soranto before spreading my wings and flying over to Taureen. This time, I was going to figure out where he was hiding those berries.

  Soranto chuckled. “Well, she is smart enough to realize who originally had the treats. You might need to invest in childproof containers.”

  “Those won’t work for long. Tasha and Keegan figured out how to open them up years ago. It needs to be a container that requires strength to open,” Taureen replied in amusement.

  “Sounds like a fun game. Have a good evening.”

  “You too.”

  I heard the door open and close as they left, although didn’t pay any attention to their departure. I was busy rechecking each of Taureen’s pockets.