Haven had to be the least graceful thing in all the caverns at this point in time. She more or less flopped out of her chrysalis and flailed as she fell to the ground in a heap of wrinkly skin and lanky limbs, before swiftly getting to her feet and shaking herself off. The hatchling let out a squawk and sniffed around, nose on the ground as she walked around in a small circle, her steps a bit wobbly and her wings and tail awkwardly raised and off-balance, making her stumble quite frequently.

The dragon bumped into a nearby chrysalis and fell, shaking her head and snorting before sniffing it curiously. She flapped her wings strongly and squawked at it, a bit angry that her fellow hatchling hadn't joined her yet. Obviously this egg-like thing (from what she could tell by feeling it) had to be her nestmate! And if he wasn't out yet, she was the older sibling, and it was her job to get the other out of their egg.

Unfortunately... it seemed to be quite unbreakable, no matter how much she scrabbled at it. Though it may have also been a case of her being about the size of a large dog and rather weak at the moment. But she wouldn't admit it, no sir. Her nestmate was just being stubborn.

@Electrum

Electrum

Skritch… skitter skritch schritch…
taptap tap....

The noises wake Electrum from the stupor he'd been in- the world outside offering him the first interesting thing since he'd known that another being grew near him.

Wait. "Am I late for something?" he thinks, twisting in his chrysalis, "I didn't think it was Time yet. But, I guess since they're awake...'

He gives a twist and shove- trying to crack open the top of his chrysalis, the pyrite streaks giving him some ideas as to where to the weaker spot would be.

The noodle-y little drake manages to crack open the top- and some falls back into the … he realizes now that he's in some sort of thick liquid, and he does NOT like that, so he scrabbles at the edge of the hole he made until he's able to haul himself up and over the edge of the now crumbling chrysalis he'd been in- landing with a kind of gross splat as his soaking fins and wings make him look a bit like a tossed dish rag. Not that Haven can see.

"H... ech… 'lo?'

@Haven

Haven jumped back as Electrum popped out, and she would have blinked stupidly, had she had eyes. As it were, she shuffled her wings into a suitable position and crawled forward, sniffing at Electrum curiously, the spines on her back vibrating gently as she hummed.

In an attempt to gain some knowledge of Electrum's size and general biology, she instinctively tapped into the magic of the stone embedded in her chest, trying to expand her senses in order to get a good look.

Her gem glowed and her senses washed over the other, spines flickering more rapidly as she took in all the information she could, before stepping back and perking up at his words.

"... Hhhhhhelloo!!", she repeated in a happy trill, tail swishing back and forth behind her as she sat down, tail swishing around to rest atop her claws, "Neeeeestmate!!"

Words were new to her, information that was still being processed, but she had a few in her dictionary that she could use.

@Electrum

Electrum

Nestmate?

"Nestmate?" He asks, pulling himself up and off the floor and beginning the process of cleaning himself off- he's decided he hates this sensation, this feeling of sticky. "So you're that one," and he points at the crumbling remains of the others chrysalis with his tail, before realizing the other didn't have eyes in the normal spot... Or what he assumed was the normal spot, and so he leans around a little bit, looking for the other ones eyes. "The other one."

Going by the other one seems alright for now- it's not like there's anyone else. They'll deal with others as they come. he guesses. But he's not sure he wants others. Others would be a lot- and he doesn't even know if he can deal with this other in front of him right now... but he decides to deal with himself first, and he takes a deep breath to focus on himself- and the damp, cold air bites inside his chest, in his lungs. So, he tries to tug on something calming instead of all this chaos.

He pulls on something humming inside him, that spreads from between his shoulders and follows the cold air into his chest- more cold, but definitely more soothing... not quite like another sensation he wants to chase, but this is enough to get him to open his eyes again, and truly look around at the place where the two of them had hatched. "Huh."

@Haven

Haven flopped down on her haunches, legs sprawled to the sides, and nodded, "Mhm! We just hatched!"

She stood up and shook herself off, goo flying everywhere, and started to groom herself meticulously, her long long dragging over her hardening skin and licking it clean. She didn't seem to mind his company, or anything, for that manner, dealing with everything as it came. But like the other was doing, she decided to deal with her uncleanliness first and foremost. She didn't want to stink, after all, it would mess with her nose.

When she was done, she flopped over to Electrum and sat beside him, their tails touching, a bit of a comfort to her, so she knew where he was and knew that at least one of them could tell their surroundings. She wouldn't be able to on her own for now, having not figured out what echolocation was.

"... Can you fly?", she asked, lifting one of his wings, draping it over her own head and grinning stupidly, "Blanket hands!"

Haven burst into childish giggles and stood up, walking away, her steps big and overexaggerated, just happy to be alive and free from being curled up for so long. Ten thousand years gives you such a crick in the neck!

The dragonet sniffed around, wondering if there was anything to eat, and turned back to Electrum, "Hey! What's your name? I'm Haven. We should get food!"

@Electrum

Electrum

The... he decides more scaly of the two, starts to clean himself off as well- and hisses when Haven manages to fling some more goop on him. Gross.

Drawing the membranes of his outer wings through his mouth gently, carefully, he considers the dragon next to him.

The other one has plates, where he has softer scales, but he has eyes where the other has... none. So are they meant to balance one another?

For now, he decides, I'll keep you. I need you like you need me. For now.

"I've never tried, is his deadpan reply to the question. "I have wings, like yours, it mine are a little see through. Good caves this one talks a lot.

Electrum hauls himself to his feet- testing out still new joints, and claws clacking after the other dragonet as they enjoy themselves- "I think we should rest, for a bit, Haven. His voice has an odd lilt to it, as if he's unsure of his own mouth as he speaks, each syllable pointed and crisp. "I... don't know my name yet, but I'll learn soon."

Cor, he just wants this other one to sit down and try to feel out the environment for a bit- the lack of the other one's eyes unnerves him and it makes him feel... ill. He'd learn that this means he's worried, at some point, but he's got some maturing to do. Duh. He's like ten minutes old.

"I named myself after here,", she said, "So we don't forget. Like a haven for us."

Haven herself had a terrible<\> lisp, her lack of lips making it difficult to speak, though it seemed her inner mouth moved to form words instead. She was certainly... weird. Otherworldly, perhaps. But no, she was definitely of this Earth.

"See-through?", she asked, her head turning to face him, though it was just slightly off, pointed off to his left, "Does that mean they're thinner?"

She sounded like a bird, chattering away, and she hopped over to him and sat down, before laying down properly, following his instructions to rest, "I guess we can... I want to try to fly and run and do all sorts of things!"

Haven was certainly more hyper than her counterpart. Maybe he was right, they were meant to balance the other, their opposite in order to fill in the gaps they left.

"... A name, hm?", she said, "What about... Waterfall? Rocky? Slime?"

Lovely, like her own name, she was basing her attempts at naming him on the things around them. Though... she wasn't all that good at naming anything.

@Electrum

Electrum
"I'll name myself... he mutters, his lips curling back in a snarl at the idea of being called anything around them. "I am new, so I want to be named something new."

Ah yes, the beginnings of his ego, here we go.

Listening to the other chitter around and then finally settle, he sighs, and finishes cleaning himself off before he responds. "They're thinner, but... how do I describe them... I guess they look like how air sounds? There but not." He's twisting his wings this way and that, squinting at the thin veins of gold scattered thru them.

"We can do more things, I guess. I would like to get better at moving around... I have a sinking feeling we're not the biggest things here..." He's starting to panic again, and so he reaches inwards again for his magic- wanting to calm himself down.

The power that thrums through him makes him shiver, but in the way one feels static on an old TV screen, and he feels his heart rate calm once again. The beta fish dragon isn't sure if Haven gets as wound up as he does, but it doesn't seem like it... but then again, the other could simply be ignoring it.

I suppose...

"You said you wanted to explore, right? Lets check out where we hatched then- and hold on to my tail or something, you're making me anxious."

Haven ran her snout along his wings, the sensitive flesh on the very end of her nose letting her get a clear picture of how they looked. She cooed in awe and raised her wings, flapping excitedly and nearly blowing herself over.

"I can get around okay!", she assured him, before darting forward, the same fleshy organ on her snout letting her sense heat and vibrations, her own excited footsteps allowing her to do so as she kept her head low.

She ran her nose over her chrysalis and turned to Electrum, her throat vibrating and the scales on her neck clicking lightly together, though not loudly, since they were still rather soft. She noticed his moment of distress and walked forward, gently taking hold of his tail in her toothy maw, being incredibly careful not to hurt him.

If it made him more comfortable, she'd do it. And it made her feel a bit better with her company securely held in her mouth.

@Electrum

Electrum

He extends his wing for Haven to nose at- seems that the other can see, albeit in a different capacity than himself. That helps him feel better, especially as the other slips away to nose at her own chrysalis's wreckage, but the fact that she returns quickly and picks up his tail has him making a rumbling noise in his chest- not one as intimidating as the others rattling had been, cause that was creepy, but his is more of happiness anyway.

Flexing the fin down his spine so that it flares up and settles down is ... somewhat harder than he likes it to be, if he were to be honest, but he decides to be a little mischievous and see if he can brush Haven's face with the fin.

One attempt later, and feeling a bit like a dumbass with how he now has his fins all flared, he wiggles his tail, trying to draw the other dragonet forward. "Well, come on then. This cave looks huge, and we have a lot of exploring to do. I see a water fall, and then some fun looking rocks a good distance away. My chrysalis is....' He kicks at a piece, and it crumbles under his foot, "Falling apart... might not be here after a bit, I guess. Maybe yours is too?"

@Haven