Oxide

Lore picks up right after Oxide's first recorded lore with Owen

Oxide ducked his head as he entered his parent's house. "Dad? Mom?" He called out, voice cracking slightly.

His father walked into the room, face lighting up when he saw his youngest child. "Oxide! How has living alone been? Do you miss us? I sure hope you miss us... It has only been two days though, maybe you need some more time to properly-"

"Dad. I live next door to you." Oxide interrupted, feeling a slight twinge of guilt, but he knew his dad has a tendency to fret, despite the nearly comical situation that was their family's distance from one another. Perhaps he got it from Mom, she had taken to becoming increasingly nervous about his well being after Sylvie and Bella.

"True, that is true." Phil chuckled to himself. "So, what's up? Want a sprite cranberry?"

Oxide, despite the turmoil in his heart and stomach, could feel himself grin involuntarily. "You see, this is why you're my favorite Dad."

"I'm your only dad!" Phil responded as he usually did, tone joking. "Unless there's something about your mom that you haven't told me..."

This made the grin on Oxide's face fall flat as he was reminded once more of his predicament.

"I recognize that face," his dad said quietly, sitting down facing Oxide. "What's going on, son?"

"Well..." Oxide took his tail between his claws, brushing through it like his mother often would when she was stressing.

"You've met someone." the statement in itself was lighthearted, though his father's tone made it quite clear to Oxide that he understood it wasn't all rosebuds and peaches.

"Well... kind of." Oxide could feel himself begin to blush, and quickly pulled his poker face back into place. He was being considered as a future tribe leader. The last thing he needed was his father teasing him about tiny fae with shimmering scales, and glossy fins, and big, shimmering, innocent eyes, and... scheisse.

"Is she nice?" His father interrupted his stream of conciseness, bringing him back to reality.

"Well... not..." he mumbled, ducking his head. "She's not exactly a... she..."

If Phil wasn't expecting to hear that answer, he didn't let it show. "Oh. I was hoping for grandbabies, but oh well. Perhaps Rumor will find himself a gal. Is he nice? Oh, I bet he's simply wonderful! Only the best for my son!" Phil beamed. "Tell me all about him. No, wait! Let me guess! Is he... tall or short?"

"...short."

"Okay, so that rules out pretty much nobody." Phil nodded. "Everybody except Knell is shorter than you. We all must seem like insects. Is he glossy or matte?"

Oxide cracked another weak smile. It was just like his dad to get strangely creative about this. "Glossy, I suppose."

"Diamaht?" His dad looked to him in surprise. "Is it Diamaht? Please tell me it's not Diamaht."

"What? Dad, no." Oxide wrinkled his nose slightly as he thought of the slightly older dragon, and his cocky attitude. "I think I messed it up with he-him forever though."

Phil sighed. "Okay. You don't have to tell me their name. Just... talk to me."

"Alright then." Oxide turned slightly, in order to face his father properly. "So it started out simple, right? The kind of rough flirting that most stupid boys do, kinda nasty, kinda just me being a complete arse. And I don't think I even knew it was flirting then, all I knew was I was confused and enamored by this shiny little dragon, and I just didn't know what to do. And he never called me on my being a jerk, he just kind of.. took it. But then he didn't, and he yelled, and I felt this stab of regret. I don't want to make his life any worse, Dad, I didn't mean to!" Oxide didn't realize, but his voice had raised in volume quite a lot.

"Well then," Phil said softly. "It seems like you really hurt his feelings."

Oxide could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I didn't know what I was doing, I was just being stupid..."

"Then maybe, you should go apologize," Phil said, just as softly, opening his arms for his much larger son to come crashing into. "Oof!" Oxide was much larger than his father, though Phil still did his very best to take him in his arms and hold him.


LORE TO GIVE TO NEW LOVE INTEREST:

---

BLANK stepped forward, our in front of the entire assembled clan, the fae that had welcomed him behind him. Slowly, shyly, he waved. "Go ahead, introduce yourself," whispered the fae behind him. She went by the name of Silvershadows, if his memory served.

And so he stepped forward. "Um, my name is BLANK," he said softly. "But you can just call me BLANK."

"It's nice to meet you, BLANK!" A voice called out from the assembled group of dragons. It appeared to have come from a star speckled mirror, smiling goofily at him. BLANK grinned back, warmth flooding his chest as one by one, the other dragons smiled, some wide, some more tentatively, but all very excited.

---

"Here, Knell and Celeste can show you to your home, you'll be staying with them for a while if you're okay with that," Silvershadows explained. "All hatchlings have to stay with parental units until their five day cycle is up, and then they are free to go as they please."

BLANK just nodded. "Thank you so much," He said softly to the two dragons Silvershadows has motioned to, a deep purple spiral and a shimmering imperial.

"Oh, it's our pleasure," the imperial said kindly, smiling widely to BLANK. "We live just over here, past this old tree."

BLANK walked with them, and listened as the two made small talk, including him as best they could. When they made it inside, Knell asked him if he would prefer to sleep in the bedroom to the left or right of the door.

"Uhhh, left?" BLANK said uncertainly, and both Knell and Celeste chuckled at that. "The world is your oyster, honey," Celeste said kindly. "Choose whatever you want to and we'll help you set up."

BLANK could feel his heart swell with love and appreciation.

---

"Oops, didn't see you there!"

BLANK looked up and narrowed his eyes. Looming above him was Oxide, a second-generation member of the tribe who, in his personal opinion, had a brain the size of a peanut. The other dragon had been harassing him since he'd gotten here, teasing him about his height and his frills and the way his face screwed up when he was ticked off. "What do you want, Oxide?"

"Oh, nothing." The imperial rested his head on the ground next to BLANK, a cocky smile on his face. "Just stooping to your level, don't mind me."

"I don't want to hear it, okay? We get it, I'm tiny." BLANK wished he wasn't so huffy today, but it was taking everything he had not to snap at the other. He'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Don't get... short with me!" Oxide smirked, warping his father's humor into another jab at the small fae's height.

It was such a dumb thing to tease him about. Fae were tiny. He was tiny. It shouldn't be a big deal. Literally, no one else cared.

BLANK's internal dialogue was cut short as he whipped his head around angrily. "Maybe if I were the size of your ego you'd finally shut up about my height! Leave me alone!"

The fae stormed off, leaving the stunned imperial in his wake.