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The small life twitching within the diamond chrysalis' clear shell had no idea what was waiting for it. A mother, for one thing, which was a lot more than many Gembound could say. They had a family waiting for them, when they finally arrived.

They shifted and kicked out, struggling against the confines of their chrysalis, the diamond casing incredibly difficult to breach. They were lucky it was so thin, or else it wouldn't be able to break free at all.

The diamond casing shattered as the baby broke free, slimy and still incased in a small sac, broken open near its head. They wiggled and got their head free, their teeny-tiny wings flapping all around as they thrashed weakly, before taking their first breath and letting out a shrill wail into the cold air. It didn't mind the cold for obvious reasons, but it certainly didn't like being alone, according to its near-blind eyes. It wouldn't gain true sight for a day or so more.

Screaming again, it wiggled around, tail slithering along the ground as its stubby limbs thrashed about, crying out for mommy as it wiggled all around.

@Asimona

Asimona was sleeping when the gemstone finally broke open. Not for long, though - as soon as the diamond shattered she jerked awake, head snapping over to watch as the little child spilled out onto the cold floor. She was immediately alert and on her feet, stepping forward towards the newly-hatched child, screaming and writhing around on the floor, and cooing softly. "Hush, little one, it's okay. I'm here."

She sat down next to them, offering her touch, ready to curl around them if they pressed forward. A soft, soothing chiming sound began to rise from her body, quiet music to calm the baby from their newborn fit. She made a sound almost like a deep purr and continued to whisper small things like "It's okay." "I'm here." "You're alright, you're okay." "Everything is okay." Emotions would come in later - step 1: calm down the baby.

@Charon

A soft whimper was the last of the child's noises as it crawled towards Asimona's side, wobbly and horribly unbalanced, its wings too large and its limbs not strong enough to lift it properly. It awkwardly slithered, awkwardly shuffled, before flopping up against Asimona and laying there, its little chest rising and falling rapidly.

Blue eyes clicked open, big and bright, and pupiless. The whelp sniffled gently and rubbed at its face gently, shaking its head before letting out an ear-piercing screech at Asimona and whapping its paws against her side. It slowly tipped over and flopped onto its side, squealing in an odd sort of baby-rage at its own clumsiness. It wiggled about, hungry and miffed at how helpless it was, wanting to be able to tell its mom that it was hungry!

Finally, it rolled back over, grumbling softly before pressing into his mother's scales, hiding his face in embarrassment.

@Asimona

She watched as the child toddled over to her, curling around it as it flopped down against her side, protective and equal parts warm and cool against him. She leaned back, however, a little surprised, at the child's little tantrum, how it flopped around and screeched and wracked her with its paws, just feeling the itch of its little claws against her thick hide. Not breaking skin, but certainly there. It had calmed down for a second, but now it was at it again.

Wait, she shouldn't be surprised.

This was her third time having children. This was her third time nurturing them from hatching. She should know this by now. She held out one of her paws, a small sparkling banana popping into existence. With sharp claws she easily split the skin, revealing the sweet fruit within. She offered it to the child with a soft, "Here, you must be hungry."

@Charon

Silencing immediately, the child stared down the banana, sniffing it gently before wrapping its claws around the thing. It gnawed on the peel and pulled at it, wanting it completely off, and somewhere where it wouldn't taint its food. It threw it halfway across the cave and practically smashed its face into it, almost as if hoping that smashing its mouth against it would end up with at least some food in its mouth.

Emerging absolutely covered in banana, and its stomach sated, it finally looked up at Asimona, licking its banana-flavored face and cooing up at her. It flapped its wings and rubbed at its face, tongue flicking out to try and get at a lump of banana on its nose, though to no avail.

Pawing at Asimona, it chirped insistently, demanding that its face be cleaned right this instant! It was covered in banana, and it was sticky and it wanted it off!!

What a bratty little noodle Asimona had managed to create.

@Asimona

She watched both fondly and amused as the baby tossed the banana peel across the cave and proceeded to smother itself in the fruit. She held back a snort as a large chunk of the banana had managed to snag itself on the horn on its nose. It looked quite silly when it looked up at her, trying, and failing, to lick the remains of the fruit from its little face. She was about to move to help it when it began to paw at her, making small noises that told her "Hey! Clean my face off for me!"

She raised a brow and looked down at them, considering refusing so that they could learn to do things themselves but...well, they had just hatched moments ago. "Oh, you," she sighed as she reached forward and gently held their face steady with one paw with she ever so carefully scrapped off the banana with the side of her claw, careful not to actually scratch their delicate skin. "I'm not going to do this for you every time! You're gonna need to learn to clean your own face off."

@Charon

Charon wiggled happily and closed his eyes, purring softly at the attention. He pulled away after a bit, rubbing at his own face for a few seconds before dragging himself forward, towards Asimona's wing. He nudged his face under it and cooed, before wiggling underneath and poking his head out. His tail wiggled happily under her wing, and he looked awfully smug.

Suddenly his face scrunched up, and he inhaled sharply before sneezing violently, sending himself flying backwards under Asimona's wing, rolling out the other side with a squeal.

He sat up slowly and looked rather stunned, looking at Asimona with the expression that came right before a baby started to cry. Only... he scrunched his face up again, as if trying to hold it back. He looked like he'd eaten a lemon.

@Asimona

Asimona pulled back her claws when Charos went to cleaning his own face, watching with a small smile. She was glad to see her new baby so happy so soon after hatching. Don't get ahead of yourself, she reminded herself firmly. There's still a long way to go.
And it seemed that things weren't going to stay peaceful and happy for very long, as a single sneeze sent the little dragon rolling away. She raised a wing a little bit to watch as he rolled away, letting out a small noise. "Are you alright?"

But then...oh no. Oh he was about to cry, wasn't he? Quickly, Asimona let off another chiming melody in an attempt to calm him down before he started crying. "It's okay, you're alright," she crooned softly.

@Charon

Slowly, Charon nodded, resisting the childish urge to let out a wail, instead silently walking over to wrap his arms around Asimona, rather stunned. He found that his mother's song was soothing, and stared up at her, still looking like he could cry, but as the seconds passed, he just looked like he needed a nap.

The small whelp pressed his head against Asimona, hiding his face as he held on tightly. He shook out the spines on his back (which were small and barely poking out of his skin), before turning to scratch at them, starting to get uncomfortable now that they were appearing, no longer staying under his skin due to there not being room for them to emerge.

"... Mmmm?", he hummed, questioning, wondering what to do next.

There was a next, right? Something to do, a way to entertain himself, perhaps more food, a tummy rub, even a nap?

@Asimona