NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: A Night to Remember
A successful dinner with lots of tummies filled to the brim. Both the parents and their young children were quite satisfied with the efforts of the two head chefs that definitely did not turn the meal into a cooking competition.
Now, the crew of mystical, some might call them Celestial, friends and family was preparing to retire for the night. The adults were just moments away from exiting the house to stay the night at the palace. They wanted to not only give the children some alone time1What could possibly go wrong? while more importantly getting some alone time themselves.
But then, something unexpected happened...
"UWAAAAAAaaaAAAaAAAaaAaa, haah, haah, HYYAAAAAAAAaaaAaAaAAa-" [Lucillia]
There was a singular little dragon that disagreed with the plans for the night and made her stand valiantly by pulling on her mother's tail. Several tugs given, no hugs received. The mother dragon did not budge at all, but neither did the little dragon. Not even when the tail shook around did the little one let go.
"Sweetie, what did I say about throwing your tantrums physically?" [Corinna]
"NO SURRENDER!!" [Lucillia]
"*le sigh*" [Corinna]
And so the tired mother, who brought this upon herself by creating another child and very much understands that, had to put an end to the riot. Fortunately (or not) for her, she has plenty of experience with this exact situation.
She lifted her tail, taking the child alongside it, and brought said child into her arms. The child's response was to cling for dear life and nuzzle her face all around her mother's embrace.
A minute or two later, the Mama battery was fully charged and would deplete in a grand total of seventeen million microseconds.
"Listen here, little one, and I mean it this time." [Corinna]
"Never!--blargh!" [Lucillia]
"It's just for the night, okay? We'll be back in the morning before you even wake up." [Corinna]
"LIES!!!" [Lucillia]
It was in fact a lie.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Everything's going to be okay." [Corinna]
One might ask the mother dragon if she was sure about that-
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" [Lucillia]
-and the answer would be a resounding 'no'. Things would not be okay, and it's all because the mother dragon just had to say the magic words...
"*mighty, epic battle cry!*" [Lucillia]
"Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere, see? It's okay~." [Corinna]
Once the gates burst open, the waterworks can only be stopped when the tank runs empty. So give the poor little dragon's tearducts to run their course.
...
In the mean time, the mother dragon took a moment to observe her surroundings and noticed something peculiar about them.
"Why are you people still here?" [Corinna]
The rest of the adults chose not to vacate the premises and were standing by the door the entire time. The children, on the other hand, were sitting not by the door but on the couch while the happenings happened to be happening.
"We already had dinner. Time for a show." [Helios]
*crunch, crunch, munch*
The firey dragon's tail was holding a bucket of deliciously popped and tossed corn kernels with only the best of butters.2I prefer kettle corn.
He was also gracious enough to share with everyone else, though only his wifey was partaking in it. The others seemed to prefer their own snacks as the floof mother devoured a bag of dried seaweed while the papa woof enjoyed a chunk of jerky.
The kids, on the other hand, were served warm milk and cookies.
One could say that part of the reason for the little dragon's tearful tantrum was the lack of cookies in her system, which is why her mother nabbed a few to help calm the child. She would have loved to give a retort to the snacking dragon and co as well, but she was unfortunately occupied for the time being.
"Here sweetie. You won't be able to eat them if you're still crying, you know." [Corinna]
"*hic...nom, nom, nom...*" [Lucillia]
At last, the child's cries (literally) dried up; the rainy cloud above her head turnd nice and shiny. And slowly but surely as the cookies made their way through whatever digestive system an immortal dragon could possibly have, the face on the tiny dragon's head turned nice and shiny, too.
Great.
Wonderful.
Absolutely amazing.
The mother dragon managed to calm her dearest child in the blink of any eye using only a pair of cookies. She now only has a dozen or so milliseconds to enjoy the feeling before reality checks in and reminds her that the original problem was never resolved, and her only card to play was just played.
"*le sigh*" [Corinna]
Ah, too late. She's already abandoned any sense of solace from the young ones and permanently lives in 'mom mode.' Kind of.
"*crawnch*" [Helios]
"Didn't you just eat?" [Corinna]
"Yup. *crawnch, the sequel*" [Helios]
"So why are you still eating that?" [Corinna]
"*om nom nom* Cuz I can." [Helios]
"*Nom* Want some?" [Cyra]
"Na-" [Corinna]
Oh? What's this? The mother dragon was but moments away from denying the horrendously unfavorable snack from the fire dragon before noticing that the child was reaching out with all her might!
Perhaps the child was feeling adventurous and wanted to reach out (literally) to someone else for babysitting, someone that hasn't sat this particular baby before. In that case, it would be a great relief for the mother dragon because she could then pass on all her problems to the poor, unfortunate soul that has to deal with a baby dragon.
"Huuuuuu...hnnnnggg..." [Lucillia]
Upon closer inspection, it turns out that the child just wanted some popped corn kernels3Some might call them 'popcorn', winky face. to munch on. The mother dragon was then forced to rescind her rapid rejection before anyone realized or reacted to her ruthless reception.
The fire dragon offered a snack, the baby dragon received the snack, and the mother dragon covered up her resistance to the snack. Perfect...except for the fact that the mother dragon still has to convince the child to part ways for the night. But unlike earlier, the child has snacks in her belly.
"Sweetie." [Corinna]
"Mama." [Lucillia]
The two contenders stood their ground at opposite ends of the mother dragon's arms, staring into each other's eyes. Because their relation, both pairs of eyes emitted the same glint of golden dragon goodness.
Silence took over the scene; everyone's eyes and ears focused on the epic showdown taking place. That is, everyone except for the snacking children, adults, and caretakers.
Ultimately, the staring contest between mother and daughter continued to no end, for neither dragon needed to blink. It was a true test of patience that could potentially go on and on and on until the end of time.
But.
BUT!!4No butts to be found here, smiley.
The test ended quite abruptly, however.
Looking around the room, the mother dragon scanned through the individuals present, analyzing each and every face in detail. She first looked the adults, then the caretakers, and finally, the other children. One by one, she considered and eliminated her options until one singular entity passed the tests.
"Here you go." [Corinna]
"Hweh?" [Lunestia]
"Goodluckgoodnighthavefuntrynottoblowupthehouseagainbutifyoudoitsnotyourfaultokaybye." [Corinna]
*insert the sound of cutting through the fabric of spacetime and jumping through it here*
A perfect escape. No a single one of them suspected a thing.
"*Gulp* Dammit, she's running away! Come back here with my entertainment!" [Helios]
"Guack! My hand, Honey, MY HAND!!" [Cyra]
And there went the fire dragon, unwilling to let go of any decent source of fun (and also his wife apparently) due to the curse of eternal life. At least he somehow managed to not spill a single kernel of corn despite how much his tail was swinging around.
The next adult to get up was the papa woof, who finished the rest of his jerky with a big chomp and a just-as-big stretch. Of course, that prompted the mama floof to finish up as well. Apparently, she was a bit of a messy eater since there were several bits of seaweed stuck on her lip.5I swear, those things make such a big mess even just taking it out of the packaging. A quick swipe with a napkin took care of them, and the mama floof bid the kids farewell.
There were no hugs or kisses for the two little floofs, just a few pats on their floof by the mama floof's floof. That was actually the preferable outcome though, since a hug or kiss would have disrupted their ability to nom on the delicious cookies in front of them.
The mama floof then hopped on the papa woof's back, and the two totally-not-love-floofs rode off into the moonlight.
How romantic.
With that, the children were officially on their own for the night. Some might argue that the caretakers of the children would take the place of the adults, and even though such individuals may be correct, it does not change the fact that the young ones finally have a little more freedom than usual!
Not that their parents would ever stop them from doing something that sounds fun and entertaining...
...
In any case, the kids were free to play while the night was still young. The question is, which one of them would be the first to break out of the stupor left by the mother-daughter showdown?
Would it be the group of energetic kiddos that are waking up from their nap? Would it be the older siblings watching from the sidelines? Would it be the unforunate older sister who now has to deal with her hyperactive-little-menace-to-existence-of-a-sister? Or would it be the hyperactive little menace to existence herself?
The answer...
...is...
...
.....
...
the caretakers that were supposed to act as the adults for the night in place of the actual adults that left the house to the kids for the night!
Before any of the children could notice, the servants-turned-babysitters fled the scene. This way, they would be void of any responsibility for what happens next. Just ignore the slightly ajar door with several pairs of eyes peaking through.
Now let the fun begin...
Lucillia
Hmph!
HMPH!
HARRUMPH!!
Mama thinks she can get rid of me? ME?!!
Grrr...
I'll show them!
I'll show them all that I, Lucillia the dragon, WILL NEVER BE-
*bonk!*
-owie!
"Hey! Settle down there, kiddo!" [Solestia]
"No!" [Lucillia]
"I said, SETTLE, DOWN!!" [Solestia]
"NEVER!!" [Lucillia]
No surrender! Fight until the last dragon standing!
*poke*
HWAH?! What was that? Who did that? Who poked my tail? Why was my tail poked?! And why did I kinda like that?!!
"Will you knock it off already?!" [Aurelya]
"But-" [Lucillia]
"No 'buts'! I've been waiting allllll night to play again, but noooooo, someone just had to fight with her mom for like ten minutes, and now I don't feel like eating anymore cookies!" [Aurelya]
"Ha? What...did you just say?" [Lucillia]
"Hmph! I'm not going to repeat myself. I think you should just stay there and think about what you've done." [Aurelya]
"Grrr..." [Lucillia]
"Hm? What was that? I~ can't~ hear~ youuuu~~~" [Aurelya]
"If, huff puff, if you won't appreciate the cookies, then..." [Lucillia]
"Then?" [Aurelya]
"THEY BELONG TO MEEEE!! Unhand me, Beeg Sis!" [Lucillia]
"No." [Lunestia]
"Please?" [Lucillia]
"No." [Lunestia]
"pls?" [Lucillia]
"No." [Lunestia]
"Why not?" [Lucillia]
"Because I'm not the one holding you. Solis is." [Lunestia]
"Wha?" [Lucillia]
But, but, these are your arms, aren't they?
They look like Beeg Sis, they smell like Beeg Sis, and they even taste like Beeg Sis! So why are you saying it isn't Beeg Sis? What's goin' on here, huh?!
"Here you go." [Lunestia]
"Uh-" [Solestia]
"Good luck and good night." [Lunestia]
Oh, now that's more like it. These hands are definitely other Beeg Sis'. Ehehe~, she's so nice and warm and-wait a minute, something feels fishy, and it's not Mira because she's...somewhere that isn't this room!
Hmm, I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but the way Beeg Sis is acting kinda reminds me of how Mama was like earlier. It's almost like she's...running away! Stop right there! Hands where I can see them! Especially the one that's holding the floofy lady's hand! You can't do that in public before marriage!!
"-huh. She really ran away like that. Curses. I should've done that first." [Solestia]
"Hweh?" [Lucillia]
GrrrrrrrrRAAAAAHhHHhH!!! Why is everyone running away from me today?! I haven't done anything wrong yet!
Sniff. Am I just that unapproachable? Is it my personality? Is it my looks? IS IT BECAUSE MY TAIL IS TOO THICK?!!6Thick or thin tails, pick your poison. (Shoutout to my fellow Dokutahs)
Unless...it's not...any of them?
What if everyone's running away from me...because I'm too spooky and intimidating?
...
Kekekeke, mwahahahahah, KWAAAHAHAHAAA!! THAT'S RIGHT! FEAR MEEE!!!
It's not my fault that Mama and them keep avoiding me. It's their faults for being too weak to even handle my presence! But I don't blame them. Mhm, they should fear me! All of them should be bowing down in front of my amazing majesticness! I accept only the finest cookies as tribute!
"Oh wells, gotta make do with what you got. Oh Caela~." [Solestia]
"Nononono, no. NO! GET THAT TAIL AWAY FROM-Ghack?!" [Caelenia]
"If anyone asks, none of you kids saw a thing, mkay?" [Solestia]
""*nodding intensifies*"" [[A fox, a wolf, and a bird watch a show~]]
"Guh! UNTAIL ME, YOU HEATHEN!!" [Caelenia]
That's right! Unhand me right this instant, too! You may be my Beeg Sis, but I refuse to be handed around like some potato dragon!
*gets handed around like a potato dragon*
"Nah~. Take this instead~." [Solestia]
"Do I at least get to call a friend?" [Caelenia]
"Nope~. Now have fun~." [Solestia]
"*slightly sad dragon noises*" [Caelenia]
...okay. You know what they say...THIRD TIMES THE CHARM!!
"UNHAND ME, YOU HEATHEN!!!" [Lucillia]
That should do it. What a lovely, completely original threat that I came up with~. Mhm, yup, yup. I came up with that alllll by myself. Praise me more~.
"Great, juuust how I wanted to spend my night." [Caelenia]
"With me, right? You wanted to spend it with me?" [Lucillia]
"Haaah, you're lucky I love you." [Caelenia]
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" [Lucillia]
"It means you should go and play with your friends. Look, you've been leaving the little birdy there hanging this whole time." [Caelenia]
"But she's standing, not hanging." [Lucillia]
"Just go play with her, dammit." [Caelenia]
"Freedom!" [Lucillia]
Finally, I can stretch my legs again. Hanging around for so long really makes my old bones creak, you know~. But something else feels weird now. Why isn't Bigger Sis passing me onto Big Sis like everyone else?
"Bigger Sis!" [Lucillia]
"What is it now?" [Caelenia]
"What about Big Sis?" [Lucillia]
"You mean, Silvie? She left a while ago after the other two." [Caelenia]
"But she's right there?" [Lucillia]
"Oh that's not Silvie. That's just a Silvie-shaped plant." [Caelenia]
"Lies!" [Lucillia]
"Yeah, yeah, go see for yourself and say that again." [Caelenia]
bleh. Bigger Sis thinks I'm dumb, doesn't she? She thinks that a mighty dragon like me can be fooled with measly words? We'll see about that.
See, look: this thingie looks exactly like Big Sis! Exactly like her! It even smells like her! But the real question is, does it taste like her? Let's find out!
*nom!*
Eh? Uhh...that's not supposed to happen. Her tail...isn't supposed to break off like that. It also doesn't taste like that one leafy thingy that Big Sis always puts in her smoothies.7Get it? A tail...made of kale wheeeeezeeey laughter
"Bigger Sis! Big Sis is broken!" [Lucillia]
"No, she's just not here, 'kay? Now go play." [Caelenia]
"But-" [Lucillia]
"Play." [Caelenia]
"Finnnee." [Lucillia]
"Finally." [Aurelya]
"Gimme your cookies and no one gets hurt!" [Lucillia]
"Wha?!" [Aurelya]
I need...fuel, yes, fuel. More fuel for my master plan. I still haven't forgotten what Mama did when she...left the house without me! She thinks she can do that and get away with it?! NEVER! I REFUSE TO ALLOW IT!
*nom*
*nom*
*NOM!*
"Uhh, Ms. Caela? Is it normal for her to eat cookies like this?" [Aurelya]
"Moar, MOARRR!!" [Lucillia]
"Hmmm, kinda? Depends on how she's feeling." [Caelenia]
"And what's she supposed to be feeling now?" [Aurelya]
"Like she's about to blow." [Caelenia]
"Uhm-" [Aurelya]
"Good luck surviving~." [Caelenia]
*THE NOMMENING HAS COME!*
"*NOM!!*" [Lucillia]
As the cookie consumption rate increased with time, the unfortunately located birdy also grew increasingly concerned about the state of the baby dragon. The birdy then noticed that the remaining sister dragon was very quickly making her way to the door, where the many pairs of eyes also retreated to brace the door.
It was at that point that the cub and kit8cub = baby wolf; kit = baby fox woke up from their mini nap, saw the situation at hand, and took cover behind the sofa.
The dragon's tail shined brighter and brighter with each cookie, and so did her tiny horns. Left with no other choice, the little bird hurled the rest of the cookies at the dragon and dove for her life behind the sofa.
In mere moments, the cookies were consumed and instantly converted into pure, unadulterated powah that would cause devastating effects if released all at once.
So what did the little draconic ball of chaos decide to do? She released it all at once, of course!
*KABLOOEY!*
On the bright side, only the living room blew up this time rather than the whole house.
