Dread considered, staring. At Howl's brief offering of a hand he eyed it warily.

He didn't trust him, he didn't trust magic; he'd been attacked by strange magics before. Some had rended his mind with fear and visions and sounds, and though he'd learned to use that, himself, he wanted no part of being its target.

Howl withdrew, though (and Dread still wasn't sure what he'd meant by 'shake on it'), so he thought about this for a moment. The greatest Shiny-finder, on his side? -That was good.

"Gold," he breathed, abruptly, a drawn-out exhale of growling greed. "I want gold." He shifted in place, a little. "All shinies--all treasure--is good, though; yes. And if you are my hunter!-if you bring me things. Then yes. If you are not stealing, and you are attacked, I will eat them! Whoever attacks you."

It sounded vaguely like "friendship," to him, but he neither liked nor trusted Howl enough to call him that, and so he skipped it for now. "It seems... fair," he said, instead.

For a moment, the dragon simply studied Howl; and then he asked, with seemingly no rush to depart (though Howl might have other ideas)--"What are you? And how are you not dead?"

@Howl

Predictably, the dragon was all-in for the promise of more gold - and other treasure was okay. The sneak-thief had an eye for what was most valuable, and intended to pawn off the rest to Dread in exchange for protection from anything that came his way. That sounded like a sweet deal, indeed. "Purfect-leh fair, Ah'll say!" Howl grinned, sharp-toothed.

He squatted down atop the boulder, a little more at ease. In his funky little mind's eye, Howl didn't think that his new personal hitman had the brain cells or thoughts to betray him on the spot. Bygones are bygones, as went the deal. So, he agreed to the condition of explaining what he was.

Although, he thought he'd already established that; "Ah'm the greatest sneak-thief! Howl Quickclaw! One of the few with hands like these, yeah?" With a flourish, he waved his right hand. "There ain't nothin' Ah can't slip outta - not even death!"

Though, growing a bit more sober, he admitted, "Ah fell and went in'ta mah stone outta luck." It totally hadn't been the critically lucky incineration or anything.

@Dread

Dread listened dutifully, struggling to understand the little creature past his strange accent. But when "sneak-thief" was mentioned, he shook himself as if about to sneeze, and then blinked and bellowed. "I SAID, DO NOT STEAL!" he reiterated. Loudly. And for once, the dragon then explained himself, if grumblingly. "I want my things. Not others' things. Not things they will come looking for. It is not good to find your things GONE!" His tail briefly curled upward as he spoke, then slammed down heavily on the rock behind him--cracking a vast gap in the stone behind him, one that would swallow down anyone drawing close. The loud thump and crack as he spoke emphasized his words: his memory of coming home to find his favorite shiny gone still stuck with him. He hadn't liked that, and what little empathy the dragon had had now bound him to not do that to others. Ironic--had he realized, which of course he didn't--that the Collector had taught him a moral lesson, quite unintentionally.

"Bring me NEW gold," he explained--whatever the hell that meant--and then eyed Howl over. "I HAD A BIRD GO INTO A STONE! I WAS TRYING TO EAT IT. IT WAS TRYING TO ATTACK ME BUT WHEN I BIT DOWN IT TURNED TO ROCK." Mild annoyance laced his tone. And then, the rather alarming: "I KEPT THE STONE. WILL IT WAKE UP?"

@Howl

Howl quickly drew his hands up, bouncing in place with the earth-shattering smack of a tail. "A'ight, a'ight, simmer down there supah-chief! Ah wouldn't dream'a stealin' things fer you," he jabbered at the speed of light, solemnly raising a single hand over his heart, "cross mah heart 'n hope to die!" Mismatched eyes peering up at Dread, he reiterated more simply, "I promise I won't be givin' you any fenced - ah, stolen - goods!"

Although, it wasn't like he could just make gold and shinies manifest out of thin air. There'd be a loophole somewhere in that, but Mistah Draggin was probably thinking along the lines of treasures that have yet to be claimed by anyone else by the caves themselves. Hell, anyone could just putter along and claim that something was theirs, nowadays! Where was the nuance in it all?

Dread's earshattering voice boomed into the sneak-thief's poor ears, and he raised his hands to cover them for a moment. It merely muffled the abusive sound. Ah, well. Didn't need those anyways. The dragon had had a fit over trying to eat someone (big surprise) and was now interrogating about whatever the logistics of a chrysalis was. Again, hell if Howl knew. He shrugged and gestured vaguely, "well, is the bird like - in a circle? Or -" Geometry. Geometry. Three-dimensional circle... ah! "A ball? Ah -" (he snapped his fingers!) "is it like a shell? Ah'll betcha it'll wake up then. Then, you can eat it for real!"

Just bite harder this time.

@Dread

Dread considered, for a long moment, and then huffed, twin threads of smoke again rising from his nostrils. It seemed more a thoughtful thing, or maybe just how he breathed, than any anger. "Good. I will not eat it," he added, after a moment. At least, he hoped he wouldn't have to. Dread wasn't a very kind and friendly dragon, but nor was he particularly vengeful or sadistic. Animalistic, more like; but he held no hatred for the chicken.

And he forgot, already, that he'd feared its potential magic. He couldn't really remember why he'd wanted to eat it. Hell, some part of him was already threading some strange parental instinct: put it in his den, keep it warm, and hatch it out. Why, he couldn't have said.

He'd sort of already forgotten Kalama's behavior.

As for Howl-... The dragon turned his gaze back on the monkey hybrid. "GOOD. We are done?" he added, turning a critical eye on Howl. He saw nothing more to say, really.

@Howl

Well, there was no answer to literally any of the questions he had asked about the nature of the stone. Howl was now just under the assumption that the dragon did, in fact, have a chrysalis he was toting around. Whatever little creature was in side wasn't even at risk of being eaten by this tantrum-heavy fella. Favoritism!

Bah, whatever. Getting burnt to a crisp was in the past now and Dread had promised on scout's honor to not eat him at the first chance.

Shrugging and waving a hand dismissively, he bounced off of the rock. His tail arched high over his back, clearly pleased. Howl grinned and took a quick bow. "Ah'mma thinkin' that's all, Mistah Dread!" An idle scratch at his forearm made him realize just how much he was craving a good case of grand larceny.

So, whooping and pant-hooting and hollering, Howl took off into the woodwork.

;exit Howl (unless stopped?)
@Dread

Dread shook himself, rapidly blinking, at all the monkey-whooping and hooting. That was loud, and unpleasant, and he didn't like it, but bar curling one half-rigid lip to expose fangs, he did little.

The dragon turned, looking back toward his shinies. He felt, now, an itching of his own: a need to ensure that Howl hadn't stolen anything while his back was turned.

Dread shoved up, wings spreading and beating heavily until they caught the air; almost laboriously he settled into the 'sky,' gliding back off toward his ledge and the collection of treasure he'd left there.

He didn't really think about Howl. If the monkey had stolen his stuff, he'd go after him, but he didn't really feel like that was likely. It was more the greedy insecurity of the miser that drove him. And once Howl was out of sight, he'd be sure to be out of mind, unless and until he truly did turn up in Monoceros again.

exit Dread