SacredStone

"Hello there, little one," Solar murmurs softly, crouched low to the ground as he offers a sweet smile to the Obelisk hatchling he's come across. She seems to be lost and understandably distressed. "My name is Solar. What's your name?"

She doesn't respond, and Solar gets the feeling she may be too young to speak just yet. That complicates things a fair bit, but he's not going to give up.

"That's okay, you don't have to talk if you don't want to," He says patiently, scooting just a bit closer to see if she's okay with him stepping over. She looks at him with a tilted head, sniffling and breaking his mechanical heart. "Shhh, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna help. Do you want a hug?"

She perks up and immediately scampers over, and Solar gently pulls her into his four upper arms. "There you go, there you go," He whispers, petting her mane to comfort her. He stands on his hind legs and sniffs at the air. Thanks to the close proximity, he's picked up the hatchling's scent and can use it to trace her steps back to- hopefully- her home.

Beating his wings, he takes to hovering off the ground and starts to fly forward as he follows the hatchling's scent- before long, however, he hears a voice yelling out a name again and again.

"Root! Rooooot! Where are you?!"

The Obelisk hatchling perks up immediately, her tail wagging with excitement as she hears the voice. Solar smiles in relief. "Oh, is that your papa? Hang on, we're almost there!" He flies a little further, finding a blue Wildclaw with green apparel and calling to him, "Hey, I found your hatchling!"

"Huh?" The Wildclaw whips around, cyan eyes brightening up with relief as he sees Root. Solar lands in front of him, carefully passing Root over. "Oh, thank goodness! You had me so worried, ya little scuttlebug!" He says, hugging her close. "Thanks a lot, man! Where was she?"

"Not far from here- just near the waterfall to the west," Solar says, smiling warmly as he watches the lovely reunion. "I'm happy I could help, sir."

"Oh, you don't have to call me sir," The Wildclaw chuckles sheepishly. "Just Stone is fine! And what's your name?"

"It's Solar," He replies, his tailtip wagging. "It's nice to meet you, Stone." What a nice and charming guy. Handsome, too! ... Ah, c- come again, brain? He feels his face heating up at the unexpected thought, internal servos whirring a bit louder. Luckily, Stone doesn't notice. "So, how old is Root, if you don't mind me asking?" Solar asks, trying not to let his embarrassment show.

"She's a month old, actually! But she's pretty slippery for her age, eheh." Stone grins sheepishly. "And adventuresome. Like, really adventuresome."

"Well, most little ones her age are. It's perfectly natural, and sometimes it can just be hard to keep track of them on a busy day- no judgement," Solar chimes, trying to sound reassuring and hoping it has the intended effect. He'd really hate to make this charming, sweet father feel bad about himself.

"Do you have kids?" Stone asks curiously, taking note of how Solar seems to speak from experience.

"Oh, uh, not personally, no! I'm just a daycare attendant," He answers, hating how awkwardly that fell out of his mouth. And he really hates when his mouth goes on without him, sputtering out, "I- I'm not a parent. Or, um, or really in a relationship! Well, I'm not in a relationship. Like. At all."

...

Stone stares at him in confusion, blinking one, twice, three times. Solar can hear his servos whirring even louder as his embarrassment grows.

"Er, sorry, I'm not usually, uhm- I don't- it's-" He fumbles for an explanation, his tail lashing anxiously as he fails to come up with the words. Soon, he just gives up and tries to change to subject, "So, where are you from, Stone?"

Smooth, Solar, really smooth.

"Oh, I'm from right here in the Gladeveins! My clan is nearby, actually," Stone replies. "How about you?"

"The Charged Barrens in the Shifting Expanse."

"Wow, that's pretty far! Did you just come this way today?" Solar nods in answer. "Well, if you have some time, why don't you come rest at my clan? It's the least I could offer after you brought Root back to me! I'm sure you could use it, since you kinda seem like you circuits are frying."

"Guh, uh, t- thank you! That's really sweet of you!" Solar says. "I'd appreciate it. Resting, I mean. Um... Lead the way?"

"Sure thing." So, Stone begins walking back to his clan with the other dragon walking alongside him.

"And s- sorry about, uh, me being so awkward," Solar apologizes, looking at his paws as he walks. "I'm usually a bit more put together than this, it's just that you're really handso- I- I mean, nice! Very nice. Charming. Erk, I mean-"

Stone stops, looking at Solar in a bit of surprise. The animatronic sucks in a deep breath and desperately avoids eye-contact. Stars, why did I say that?...