Whale

"Greywing?" the coatl was timid in opening the door. There had been an audible hiss and then a pop, and very uncomfortable silence afterward. The two scientists had a protocol, they did, to follow were some special kind of horror only achievable with science to pop up. But Greywing did not answer when she knocked, and Greywing usually answered.

The inside of the laboratory was covered in what seemed to be a reddish-pink film. The stuff on the floor had already hardened, it seemed, but those on the laboratory specimens bubbled and hissed. In the middle was Greywing, no longer so grey, chipping away at the muck on the floor. "Oh dear," Whale murmured; it was an adoring comment on its own but also served to warn the coatl of his presence-- "You've been trying at this all morning. I think you deserve a break, at least."

Greywing still jumped a foot off the ground at the sound of his name. "You think so? Think so?" he whimpered. "But I've got to clean all this muck up first." He flattened his crest in the general direction of the mess, which was hard, because it was, well, everywhere. He looks back down at the chipped shards of the failed experiment. "I'm sorry I couldn't find the formula," he licked at his snout, a sign of nervousness. It came back with some of the redness, and he scrunched up his face in disgust. "Bleh. Tastes like... bad. Bad."

"Don't do that," Whale snapped in response. Each of his movements made her want to run over, caress his cheeks, maybe clean the goo off with mana. But she couldn't, at least, until Greywing made his own move on her. Greywing was a sensitive being, delicate. Every move had to be carefully planned, or just a move that worked well. All of Greywing's other quirks hurt in a similar fashion. The only thing to do was to stay quiet, but kind. "Come on, let's go out for some fresh air. I can help you clean up the lab later." She offered a gesturing hand. Greywing, seemingly ignoring him, picked at the stickiness clinging to his fur. "You should get yourself cleaned up, obviously, but the lab can wait."

When Greywing came back, it was in a new lab coat, gloves, and goggles, exactly the same as his old set. It was well-known that the scientist liked his equipment-- so much, in fact, that he'd never been seen without it-- which led Whale, among many others, to question how many sets of it he had. "Sorry, sorry." Greywing was apologetic. "The acid doesn't like the indicators, so no matter how many times I try, it keeps blowing up." They were the only two in the tunnels, and Greywing had much to say. The others were most likely in their groups, working away at their contribution to the clan, the buzz of chatter and footsteps provided steady background noise for the two of them. Whale looked at him. "It's ok," she softly said. "I can put the project on hold until you can find the exact concentration. What's important is that you're safe."

Eventually, the two reached the edge of the cliff overlooking the shimmering waters. A few dragons could be seen on the beach below, but Whale knew Greywing didn't like sand. Instead, they sat upon the grassy knoll just before the drop, on the roots of the old camphor tree atop the grasses. It was... the middle of the afternoon? Around two to four, she thought. She never knew-- most of her time was spent indoors, anyway.

Whale snuck a look at Greywing again. The latter was looking off into the distance, clearly thinking of something but she didn't know what. She opened his mouth to ask, but thinking better of it, closed it again. "It's a nice day today," was all she could say. From the corner of her eye nodded Greywing, seemingly happy about the statement. He shifted on his haunches, closer to the other, until the two touched sides and shied away from each other again. The branches rustled with the wind, leaves shaken loose drift below the horizon. Further beyond the cliff, the sun glitters on the waves, and it is a good day.
^lore by Coincidence

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"Greywing, I've got something to show you! I've got an idea that I think could be better than half the rest of my inventions combined!"
The lovely grey coatl, with his latest concoction in hand, softly replied "ok, just give me a moment to change my clothes. I wouldn't want to accidentally make one of your creations malfunction, Whale."
Whale's scales shimmered all colours of the ocean at this interruption, but it was fine, she adored Greywing, it was just that she was so exited to show off her new invention.

A few minutes later, Greywing reappeared, in the exact same clothes as before, just without all the stains. "Alright, I'm ready to go see whatever it is you've made."
The pair walked- well, fast-walked, in Whale's case- along the narrow corridor that led to Whale's area, and Greywing gazed around the room, somehow Whale's creations always seemed to amaze him, no matter how many times he'd seen them. Whale trotted over to one in particular, which looked sort of like a metal coatl, without the feathers...
"I call this a robot, its designed to help me with things, so that I can do my work faster. I should warn you though, its heart is made of glass, so be careful with it.
^by Feathershine22

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Special thanks to Minutopia! :)


by Feathershine22 ^


thanks to Fennecfox21