Caelum

"Would you mind, uh, too terribly much...." A whisper of a sentence caught her attention, the shorter dragon withdrawing their hand from the edge of her shawl without having touched it. "Helping us over to the daycare tree?" The dragon in question was a yearling, just having reached their adult form and still too hesitant in the new skin. Behind them was two hatchlings. Siblings, most likely.

Caelum looks over the whole group silently, uncertain if they were lost or merely incompetent, but then she spied the bandages on the hatchlings. Glancing at the yearling showed that they had an armful of unwieldy, but hilariously adorable tiny bags. One of the hatchlings shuffled in an unintentional show of nervousness, bumping into (and consequently knocking over) the other one.

"Don't wiggle," Caelum warns them, scooping them both up into an awkward hold. One hatchling per star-studded arm, braced to prevent unwanted pressure on their injuries.

Briskly whirling around, she took off at a smooth, loping pace. The yearling squawked and scrambled to catch up, and soon enough they reached the daycare. As Caelum set first one hatchling down, the minder came out to fuss over the whole group. Then, as the second little one's feet touched the ground, they looked up into her eyes.

"Thank you, Caelum!" Despite the cheerful tone, their tiny claws were dug into the edges of her fingers and if she hadn't been bending down the words would've been inaudible. She blinks calmly at them, waiting out their panic.

And waiting out her own reaction. The hatchling had seen fit to thank her by name. it's new. Being thanked by name, that was. Being thanked at all. Previously, she'd never been thanked, but her new allies here always did.

The minder finishes up with the bolder hatchling and comes over to Caelum just as the shy hatchling lets go, in a show of excellent timing. As Caelum straightened up and literally dusted her hands of the matter, the yearling paused in the entranceway. Both the yearling and their sibling turned back towards Caelum, waving with more energy than their quiet nature belied.

"Thanks again!" They call out in tandem, grinning brightly when Caelum glances at them.

-~-

"...the flood of seawater relief came suddenly, salt stinging her lungs with each breath she managed to pull in against the presssure. It would have choked her if she wasn't used to anxiety's capricious tides."

-~-