Erasmus

Wordlessness was not uncommon for Erasmus, even if they had speech figured out again by now with Alek's help. They had spent so long early on ignoring utterances and focusing on the instinctual, that sometimes that simply was the easiest way for the vampire to be.

But this child did not take long to speak, even if it was only to pick up names and tell their own.Doru. They wondered if the other would speak soon too, with the influences of Alek and his sibling. Erasmus stayed close to the children, picking off little amethyst shards from them while crooning softly.

Something was missing, though. And that was when their green gaze fell upon the silent Raspite chrysalis, unhatched. Their happy croons stuttered to a halt.

Maybe this one was simply a little late. Erasmus could give life, clearly. But... Perhaps for the blessing of having these two, they had lost the Raspite child, the gemstone who they had carried with them for a cycle before giving life back to it.

They hoped they were wrong. For now, the suppressed their panic and focused upon the needs of their hatched children. They could try to communicate their concerns to Alek when the children were asleep.

As I breathe into our silence
There's a voice that comforts me
It's a voice of understanding
It's the voice of empathy

@Bezaliel

He sneezed, next, then coughed again, and tiny balled-up fists--still not wholly under the control of the dragon-child; more autopiloted than understood--raised to push at his eyes. He squinted into his own hands, and eventually and more by luck than anything, managed to clear his face of goop.

In the meantime, the others were speaking. Or--two of the three, at least, though Bezaliel hardly registered which two these were. Words, rumbled but mostly beyond his understanding. Perhaps he could have focused, yes--dredged their meaning up from some ancestral knowledge--but Bezaliel did not care to. That faint impatience rose again, and he started to stumble up. Vague understanding that there were introductions ongoing caused irritation to join the impatience. It wasn't anything specific--he was too young for that. It was more some sort of instinctive insistence that his name should come first.

"Bezalulul," he tried, and then he stumbled as he came fully to his toddler's oversized feet. A little wing--still wet, hardly yet unfurled--flapped out with a sudden jerk to try and steady himself but he'd fallen on his butt before he could catch his balance.

He frowned, not even aware that he'd fallen, so great was his focus on his name. He'd barely registered the others', but his-?

"Bezalelol," he tried again, then made a sort of childish, frustrated cry and smacked fists weakly against his thighs. Baby frown turned into baby scowl. "BEZ-A-LELI." Still not right. "Bez-ah-LYEE-yell?!" This one was a question, and his scowl--glowing eyes flaring under knit brows--turned questioningly to each parent in turn. And then, too, to his sibling. He seemed to be asking them, 'am I saying it right!?'

The meat was only noticed secondarily, and a second stumbling attempt was made to stand. Bezaliel tottered to the food, and then dropped back onto his backside again with another thud--again uncaring--and started to try and take handfuls of meat from a hunk of meat that would... likely not work that way. The child was left still-scowling, but now studiously, as he tried (with a sort of possessive half-mantling, and side-eye at the others) to figure out how food worked.

@Alek

Doru's attention turned away from the food back to their brother, who seemed to be trying to figure out how to speak his name, loudly. It was actually very unpleasant, especially since Doru had the same hearing of their vampiric parent.

Not that Doru was mad, they understood their brother was clearly frustrated. They tried to think of an idea to calm their brother, both for the sake of their hearing and their brother. But, mostly their hearing.

"Bez," Doru pronounced, voice made loud enough to be clear to their brother. "Bez." They repeated, hoping the other got their idea.

If Bez couldn't pronounce the name yet, then the best thing to do was shorten it, clearly, like they had done with Erasmus's name.

@Bezaliel

The child continued to try and take 'handfuls' of a relatively solid substance, a huff escaping him. Flameglow eyes shot briefly to Doru, empty of emotion bar mild irritation. "Bezlaleeyell," he 'corrected.' Undoubtedly he'd welcome the nickname Bez later, or even suggest it again himself; but since it wasn't his idea, and he was still fighting with the full name, his response was sullenly stubborn.

His attention shifted back to the meat.

Pudgy fingers kept grasping at flesh, trying to wrest free something to chew. In the end he gave up, baring fangs in a hiss before shoving down and biting clumsily instead, tearing a chunk weakly free and then falling back on his butt to chew at it.

@Alek (or whomstever)

Doru was relieved when their brother's attention shifted to the food. The world was all so loud and it was a bit much for the newly hatched vampiric dragon child, especially when the loud sounds came from up close.

They saw no issue with tearing with teeth into meat. Their own teeth were sharp, and it felt like their mouth had been made for this. The taste of blood in particular was rather nice.

Every detail, every texture, was overwhelming, but not in a bad way, this time. They were happy to have their senses overwhelmed by taste this time.

And so they were relaxed. It wouldn't take long after eating for the child to fall asleep, tired from everything.

[Exit Doru]

@Bezaliel

(Will post Erasmus and Alek after Bez's exit)

Bez ignored all else, now, other than the food--with the exception of sullen eyes snapping up to anyone close by. It was a possessive look, a 'don't come near me, this is mine' even though he had absolutely no way to defend against creatures so enormous. He even bared bloodied fangs, briefly, hugging his hunk of breakfast (or dinner, or whatever it might be) closer to his chest.

Once he was finished, he didn't rest, as Doru had. Instead he stumbled back to his feet, and in the manner of toddlers the universe over, immediately tried to wander off to explore his surroundings and probably get into trouble.

Thankfully, he had parents there to corral him, for now.

exit Bez