( open ) dragon shenanigans

[motivation]

Who: Dutch (motivation) & OPEN
What: A former child assassin tries to raise a baby dragon. Shenanigans ensue. Someone please help?
When: all of September
Where: Wyver
Warning(s): ... alcohol, swearing, possibly sex? Keep an eye on subject lines of comments ig



01. TRAINING (closed to established cr)

[ bellus used to shake her head at dutch, complaining that she was always fighting dragons. dutch never thought that would become a literal thing, but this place has made that happen.

something else this place made happen? dutch finding a tiny baby dragon in the woods that followed her home. she has no idea how it got there or why she's keeping it or even what she's supposed to do with it. it (she) is roughly the size of a sheep, slender in build, with emerald green scales covering her entire body.

dutch decides to name her lucy. it doesn't mean anything.

in the first twenty four hours of lucy following dutch home, lucy tries to eat dorian the kinkajou three times, climbs onto a shelf, nests in alvis' old shirt that dutch still keeps in her apartment (which is a mess, thanks to ysverai and everything that happened in the undead dragon's wake) and almost sets a table on fire when she coughs.

so that's happening. ]

I'm going to train you. [ dutch tells lucy. step one: fill a spray bottle with water and spray lucy whenever she does something she's not supposed to. step two: enlist the help of a friend. step three: ??? ]

I don't even know what I should teach her.

02. REBUILDING / A BONFIRE (ota)

[ dutch's apartment is a mess. it's still standing, but that's about the only thing that can be said for it. so she's cleaning it up to the best of her abilities while there's a kinkajou dancing around the place, climbing on anything and generally getting in the way, and a dragon is lazing, belly up, in the sun.

around sundown, dutch has set a bunch of stones from a crumbled wall in a circle near that crumbled wall and is building a fire in the stone circle. her oven's wrecked and the crumbled wall means good air circulation, so why not build a bonfire in the middle of her apartment? #justdutchthings

the trip into the woods that got her lucy the dragon also yielded an animal that she's prepped to roast over the fire. lucy's watching proceedings very carefully all of the sudden.

come help with the rebuilding efforts or join her for some meat? she's got alcohol aplenty, too, that she pilfered from a bar so damaged it can no longer serve as a bar. ]

03. WILDCARD

[ want dutch for any of the shenanigans from the mod log? lmk @ abiosis and i'll write you a starter, or just slide into the comments with your own! ]

Comments

2! Rebuilding and a bonfire!

[smithandwesson]

[Let's not lie. It was, in fact, nice to see someone around these parts getting things together in a controlled fashion after the mess that the country had become. Also, the meat smelled fairly nice... And the alcohol looked good.

But the main reason for Sanzo's presence had been due to his volunteer work as one of Wyvers "good" shamans, going around to check up on local citizens who needed aid and supplies. The Altar of Volkkra had been working its damnedest to try and improve its name amongst the chaos of what had happened after all. (It's quite the reputation of having parts of your own temple side with a renegade prince on a mission which had almost ended the world). So those of the temple which consisted of Nyssas refugees and those who sided with Heryn and the Nightryders after the split were working nonstop to hold up face in front of the people who were quickly growing weary of them.]

Seems you're managing to take some fairly good care of yourself.

[He had been dressed in the traditional robes of almost all shamans. His arms folded into his sleeves as he looked Dutch over, his expression seeming serious and stern despite being a young man of 25.]

Are you in need of supplies or aid as you get everything back together?

[motivation]

[ dutch isn't necessarily the most organised, but she's often controlled. someone with her skillset has to be, but alcohol and emotion loosen her control more often than not. khlyen would have fits, but khlyen is dead and besides, he's not the boss of her. not anymore.

(she wishes she could stop thinking about him. about the things he taught her, why he taught her, how he did. the damage he did and how much she misses him despite all that. she can't hate him anymore.)

she doesn't hate the shamans, either, but she still has to force her shoulders back when she spots his robes. that she got abducted by radical shamans and subjected to torture isn't something her body's forgotten, even if dutch excels at pretending that it doesn't bother her. they weren't very good at torture, were they? (unfortunately, they weren't bad at it.) ]

Depends. [ she drawls out after a moment, arms crossing in front of her body. she figures she could take him, if he tried anything. ]

Is it gonna cost me?

[smithandwesson]

If it were up to me it would.

[He couldn't help but look her over as she crossed her arms before him. His expression bored and he casually placed a hand on his hip in response to how tense her body language had been. He was used to it at this point, but it didn't mean he enjoyed it.]

But, go figure, this is more an act of good-samaritanship than anything else.

[And with that he finally approached closer, everything about him seeming to be at ease as he approached the small fire.]

Seems those of us left who actually wish to work under King Shanrian while simultaneously following the Altar of Volkkra have quite a lot to make up for in response to the assholes who thought human sacrifice and the resurrection of a centuries-old dragon demi-god were a good idea.

So, if you'll have my labor, consider me a volunteer at your beck and call I guess.

[He sounded so very enthusiastic about the whole situation! Not.]

[motivation]

Charming. [ comes back the prompt reply. dutch isn't in a habit accept charity because she's never needed it, because khlyen trained her not to be weak and needing something she cannot get herself is what he'd call weakness.

johnny wouldn't, and so the angel and the devil on her shoulders have a fight again, but that's nothing new.

ultimately, she decides that the shamans owe her for what they did to her. being called a hero for getting kidnapped was more a slap to the face than anything else, as though not being strong enough to escape her own abduction was an act of heroism instead of the opposite.

so she shrugs. ]

How are you at building walls?

[smithandwesson]

[He had shrugged back, seeming as equally nonplussed over the whole ordeal as Dutch was.]

... I've done it before. Not my forte or anything but even a two-year-old can understand how to stack bricks.

[And with that he walked over to the pile of rubble, looking over towards the giant gaping hole in the side of the apartment.]

Have you attempted to gather any supplies to get this wall back together yet?

[motivation]

There's wood.

[ she's been gathering wood. who needs bricks when you can just hammer wood into the parts of the wall that are still standing and close the hole that way?

yeah, she's probably going to move somewhere else at some point, but for now, that'll do. she's lived in worse. ]

[smithandwesson]

.... You really put the maximum effort into all of this, haven't you?

[Were these planks of wood even sturdy enough to protect this home from a passing breeze? Well, whatever. He wasn't going to put more work into this than he had to.

Kneeling down he gathered a few planks before turning to look at Dutch with a fairly blank expression.]

Hammers and nails? Or is all you have a rock and metal shrapnel from the debris?

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky hasn't been to Wyver yet since coming out of stasis. So one morning he decides to visit, to see what's changed. He's only heard stories of the dragon, and the sacrifice of Darma— but here the frozen wrath of Ysverai is still palpable.

By the time he comes to Dutch's apartment it's already late afternoon. He sees that rebuilding effort is going on and presses his lips together. ]

Hey. [ It's not exactly easy for him to talk to strangers, but he'll manage. ] Do you want an extra set of hands? [ He's broad-shouldered, sturdy, by all appearances the kind of guy who'd be good at lifting heavy boxes. Not that he's motivated by chivalry. No, it was just that— after everything else he's been, helpful didn't seem like such a bad thing to try to be.

Give him a minute and he'll notice the dragon. ]

[motivation]

[ dutch heard him approach before he spoke. she'd be a bad killjoy (a bad ex-assassin) if she hadn't and khlyen trained her too well for that to happen. she heard him, but it's only when he speaks and she looks up from where she's trying to get the table stabilised that she's struck by how familiar he looks.

maybe that's what prompts a positive reply. ]

Yeah, sure.

[ he won't have a minute: lucy notices him and decides to come investigate - by running at him full speed ahead. fortunately, dutch's hand shoots out to grab lucy by the neck with a sharp ] Lucy, no. [ which prompts the dragon to stop mid-motion. at least she's quick? ]

[deadthenred]

[ Look— it's not like he's never seen a dragon. He's been to space before, and his life could get pretty weird.

Still, it's safe to say he wasn't expecting Lucy. His left foot falls back a little, into the beginnings of a fighting stance, not out of fear. It's a reflex. But if his body reacts without much thinking, his voice is surprised. ]

Is that a…?

[motivation]

Dragon? Yeah.

[ dutch notices the fighting stance and the instinctive way he slips into it. part of her wants to respond in kind, slide into a similar stance, see how good he is, if he can hold what his body promises.

she doesn't. instead, she lets go of lucy with a pointed look at the little dragon. ]

She just showed up.

[deadthenred]

[ And Bucky's posture relaxes, once it's clear that the dragon isn't a threat. And is also a… pet? Okay. ]

What's her name?

[ He voice tilts a little, like people do when they're speaking to a baby. ]

[motivation]

Lucy.

[ the dragon is absolutely a threat. mostly to dutch's furniture and clothing, but then the furniture has been wrecked by ysverai long before lucy decided she was going to live with dutch.

also hells, please don't baby talk her dragon. (please do.) ]

Never seen one before?

[deadthenred]

Not like this.

[ His voice is back to its normal register. Something that is probably more comfortable for all involved. ]

Usually they're bigger.

[ He's working with a sample size of about two. ]

bonfire!

[particlebarrier]

[As dusk settles in around Wyver, the flames and smoke rising from Dutch's bonfire are easier to spot. Given the trouble they've been having of late what with people attempting all sorts of strange rituals to exorcise the ghosts, he figures this might be worth investigating. Just to be safe.

He's still wearing his blue paladin armor as he approaches the broken down apartment building, looking a little tense. He's learned the hard way that you never really know what you're going to come across here. Sure enough, he's right to be on his toes at all times because....]

Woah...is that a dragon?

[He's never seen one up close.. or one so small before!]

[motivation]

[ the armor stands out in this environment as futuristic, as strange. people are used to that, but to dutch, it makes him obviously a refugee like herself.

(she blends in far better, her clothes all fabrics found in wyver, the only thing giving her away her weapon, strapped to one thigh even now, almost as futuristic as his armor but less clean in design.)

at his words, she glances up from her fire, though she noticed his approach a good while ago. ] Very observant. [ the sarcasm is more amused than it is biting. ]

[particlebarrier]

[He makes a vaguely chagrined face at that, but recovers quickly as he turns his glance away from the smol dragon to to the girl seated by the fire. It's the anachronistic knife strapped to her thigh that draws his attention longest, though he doesn't comment on it. He does, however, stay where he is for now rather than getting any closer.]

It's just so small.... And kinda cute, too!

[Not at all like the great beast he'd been warned about on the station that rampaged and destroyed much of Olympia. He gives Dutch a curious look, smiling a little.]

Is it yours?

[motivation]

I guess she is.

[ dutch shrugs. ] She just showed up and started following me around.

[ the dragon's adopted her more than dutch has adopted the dragon - though honestly, now that dutch has named her lucy, after her ship, the adoption process is more mutual than dutch would care to admit. ]

[particlebarrier]

....She?

[Lance looks over at the dragon again and yeah.... he's got no clue how you sex a dragon.]

How d'you know she's a girl? Did she tell you?

[motivation]

Nothing dangling between her legs.

[ does dutch know how to sex a dragon? no. she's just applying what she knows of the anatomy of creatures she's more familiar with (like, say, humans and dogs) to this dragon. ]

02

[pluspetitpoete]

[Jehan's been doing his best to help with the rebuilding efforts around the city. Anywhere that's crumbling, anyone that looks like they could use a hand, he stops to help. It makes him feel at least a little better about the whole thing.

So when he sees the signs of a fire on his way home, he dashes over to see what he can do to put it out. But, ah.]

Oh -- my apologies for just barging in. I see now the fire was on purpose.

[motivation]

[ footsteps rushing toward her are usually a sign for dutch to tense and one hand sits suspiciously close to the gun strapped to her thigh, but he slows to a stop, a confused look on his face for a moment before he gets it, and her shoulders lower again. ]

Very on purpose.

[ lucy the dragon takes that moment to burp, a small flame coming out of her snout as she does. ]

[pluspetitpoete]

Oh! And you have a friend to help you as well, I see. [While the devastation after the dragon attack is, admittedly, awful, Jehan could never find it in him to blame the dragon itself. It was people who misused the dragons for their own purposes.

So while he's a little wary of this dragon, he's not frightened of it.] This all looks quite cozy, doesn't it?

[motivation]

Her name's Lucy and she's a menace.

[ but there's a hint of a grin curling at the corners of dutch's mouth and something like fondness creeping into her tone despite the unflattering words.

dutch doesn't blame the dragons, either. she blames the shamans, mostly, and more generally people. ]

[pluspetitpoete]

Lucy! How fantastic. Well, I'm Jean. It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm sorry to have simply invited myself into your home, I thought perhaps you needed help.

But it looks more like dinner than anything.