Seeing Wings of Green

Chapter 23: An Interrupted Cat (Dragon?) Nap

Thud, thud, thud.

I huffed in annoyance as a now familiar light tapping noise wormed my way into my dreamworld and I had to force myself to open my eyes. Oh kick rocks, Brogh. I thought as I semi-rose my head an gave the alien on the couch a brief, lazy look; annoyed that he had interrupted my afternoon nap for a training session. I further communicated my displeasure of having my nap disturbed with a few irritated flicks of my tail tip. Still, Brogh smiled and tapped the fairly recently-aquired feeding perch next to his spot on the couch. I knew what those taps meant. Come here, come here. Again, I gave my tail a few agitated flicks before I re-oriented myself on the windowsill and curled back up; this time with my back to Brogh and my head tucked under my good wing as I attemted to block out that god-awful tapping and I wasn't the least bit interested in ruining my nap for the two ripe Sunburst Berries that I had seen sitting on the feeding perch. My message was clear: "Eff off." Normally, the two to three Sunburst Berries would've compelled me to move, but not when I was being asked to give up any amount of sleep to do so. After all, a Dragonet needed their beauty sleep.

This what I assumed to be target training had been going on since Brogh had taken my cage away nearly a week ago, now. Brogh would place a Sunburst Berry or two on or near the surface of where ever it was that he wanted me to go and give it a few light taps with a finger tip or what looked like a small baton; whether it was the feeding perch, table top, my sleeping area, or the even more recently installed perch in the shower. Vircea had suggested that Brogh invest in a good water-proof perch for the shower in order to allow for more enrichment for me while giving Brogh a more mess-free way for me to have my "wet baths", as she called them instead of presenting a shallow dish of still water with no way to contain the good amount of splash back that always resulted from my playing or bathing sessions.

Thud, thud, thud.

Ugh, again?! I thought as I begrudgingly opened my eyes for a second time, removed my head from under my wing, and looked over my shoulder to give Brogh the nastiest look that I could manage in this body. At this, the Kymari smiled and placed one more berry from the leather satchel with the two that were already on the feeding perch. Nope, nope, no- My resolve cracked when a loud growl from my stomach betrayed me. I hadn't eaten since before today's Morning Song and by now, that small cluster of Dragonet-Crack Berries was far too tempting. Defeated, I gave in with a sigh.

Brogh had only fed me full meals from my food bowl early in the morning before the sun rose, and once the sun set at night and resorted to bribing me with various treats at numerous points during the day, at the suggestion of Vircea. Hunger was a powerful, driving force in this body and Vircea- being someone who habitually worked with all manners of animals- clearly knew that and had been educating her brother on the matter. Obviously, Brogh was starting to learn that quickly; evident by the types of fruit that he had been using to bribe me with. He had very quickly picked up of my favorites- pineapples, mangoes, pears, raspberries, grapes, banannas, persimmons, and apples; along with the Sunburst Berries- and used them against me to get me to go or do whatever or wherever it was that he had wanted.

And oh did I resent him for it.

"There." Brogh coaxed with a kind smile as I slowly got to my paws and jumped down from my basking spot on the windowsill and ventured over to the little ladder that led up to the feeding perch and thus, the berries.

Both the feeding perch and the shower perch seemed to be designed more so for large domesticated birds than a cat-sized flying reptile, but they were big enough for me to perch on comfortably and held my weight well. Still, I proceeded up the wood and metal-constructed ladder with caution. The closer I got to the berries that were resting on the clean metal tray below the perch, the more I began to salavate as their scent swamped me. Brogh's close proximity no longer scared me by now. I hated to admit it, but I had grown used to his presence. As for his friends though, that was a different matter.