Our tour gets a little sidetracked by Plasma pausing to marvel at many of the dragons wandering the caverns, but we make it to the hatchery with Nightshade joining us, making conversation with the Morphwings as we go. He seems rather intrigued by our kind, but nowhere near as invested as Plasma is in his pursuit of knowledge of the Night Furies. It's amusing to watch the pair getting really excited and animated about their discussion.

"Here we are," I announce, catching their attention, as well as the attention of Asher, Adriana and, of course, the hatchlings. The responses of the latter group are mixed between excited curiosity and defensiveness. "It's okay, they're Morphwings," I inform them. "Like me."

The braver of the hatchlings approach; Dapple, Solar and Moon, with Lily trailing a little way behind her brothers. The four of us Morphwings crouch down to their level, allowing them to approach us.

With some encouragement from Nightshade, Plasma is approached by Dapple, who sniffs his offered palm. After a few moments of Plasma holding his breath, Dapple nuzzles his palm, tail starting to wag. Plasma's breath staggers out in a soft laugh, a smile spreading across his face.

"Meet Dapple," I introduce the pair. "Dapple, this is Plasma."

"Hi!" Dapple greets, climbing up Plasma's arm to curl around his shoulders. "Hel- oh!" is Plasma's surprised response, though he smiles and scratches Dapple under his chin, causing the little Fury to purr and lean into Plasma's touch.

Asher and Adriana are also able to coax Solar and Moon to them, though I move closer when I see Moon involved. "Gentle warning, he's still in the biting stage," I give Adriana a heads up. "Oh, that's alright," Adriana chuckles. "Melanite was still in the biting stage when I first met her."

Moon does go in to bite her hand, and I'm impressed to say that Adriana simply scratches his sweet spot, causing him to mewl happily and leave her be, rolling onto the floor with his belly up. Moon's happy reaction to Adriana encourages Solar to properly approach Asher, allowing himself to be picked up and petted.

To ensure she gets her attention too, I scoop up Lily, allowing her a good view of all the 'humans' while I pet her as well. "Seems you've all made some friends," I chuckle. "There are the other hatchlings, of course, but most of them are more wary of humans, so I'm not too sure they'll approach on their own just yet. These lot are probably the best we'd get for now, but they're all happy enough."

"Indigo, this is absolutely incredible," Plasma breathes, half absorbed in playing with Dapple, then Nightshade when the older dragon decides he wants some attention too. "Thank you for bringing us here."

"Well, I suppose you guys are still dragons, aren't you?" I shrug it off. "And I'd never turn a dragon down from this place... though I'll admit Morphwings are still a little bit of a grey area to me on that, being the only dragons who could give this location up to humans."

"Well we wouldn't," Asher assures, to which I nod. "I know. I trust you guys. I'll have to bring Selene here sometime, too. Melanite came up once before to see Dapple hatch, if I remember correctly."

Melanite's name causes Dapple to perk up, making Plasma laugh. "You remember her, little guy?" He asks, to which Dapple nods. "Yeah! She was fun!"

"I've made sure to keep mentioning her when I'm here so he didn't forget," I comment. "I'm impressed he remembers her as well as he has, still."

"What else has she been telling you?" Plasma questions Dapple. "She's been talking about all the Morphwings," Dapple answers, pouncing onto Plasma's head, causing both to laugh. "She was telling Stylive about you yesterday, and then they started fighting!"

Everyone pauses at this, so I quickly wave my hand in a dismissive manner to reassure them. "Not a real fight. Just a bit of play wrestling."

This calms the group down again, albeit rather amused. "Look, moving on, how about I show you the aquatic dragons?" I suggest, wanting to change the subject.

~•~

The night settled in sooner than any of us expected that evening, so I offered up some available nests to our guests before I headed to my room to turn in myself. The day went about as well as it could have, I think; I spent the day with Plasma as if it were all normal. At least the Sanctuary kept him distracted from any issues from before.

The way his face kept lighting up with awe and joy with every new sight... I'm glad I invited him here. It was worth it to see him so happy. And to have Adriana and Asher here as well, knowing I've been able to share this place with all the people who are important to me - I'll make sure to bring Selene here too some day - makes me so happy.

I let my hair down from its braid and set aside my armour on the stand, sighing tiredly. As nice as this day was, I'm certainly glad I get to rest up at last. Playing nice with people, even people I like... well, sometimes I need a break from that. Is that bad? I don't think it's bad. Then again, I suppose I don't know what would be considered good or bad these days. The thought does bring a small smile to my face.

A knock at my bedroom door catches my attention. I doubt the dragons would knock like that, so now I'm curious as to which of the Morphwings it will be. I get up from the bed and open the door.

Plasma's sheepish smile is quickly replaced by a shocked gape, then, just as swift, a panicked grab for his face as he covers his widened eyes. "Oh! Uh, your mask-! I'm so sorry!"

I blink, realising he means that my mask is off. I removed it while I was changing and I didn't think to put it back on. I never expected the company of the only person I hadn't shown my face to.

His reaction surprises me, though; I'm not used to people respecting that boundary so actively. Most of the time people want to see me without the mask, with a great number of people attempting to remove it. But even when he got a free pass that I couldn't possibly have blamed him for, Plasma not only made sure I knew about the issue, but actively covered his eyes to respect my privacy?

The hunters would've tried to remove my mask.

The Berkians would have had no qualms about using this as an excuse to see my face, even if they had no ill intent.

I don't know if even my family would have done more than mention it, in all honesty. I'd like to think they'd react in the same way Plasma has, but I wouldn't blame them if they didn't.

I realise I haven't reacted and blink, turning to grab my mask. "Oh. Right. Thank you... you can look now."

Plasma slowly removes his hands from over his eyes, only allowing them to return to his sides once he sees I'm now wearing my mask. "I didn't see anything," he promises. "Don't worry about it," I brush it off. "Thank you for being so respectful."

"Of course," he nods. "You never have to thank me for treating you with common decency."

This does make me smile a little. "Well, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I wanted to have a talk with you, if that's alright," Plasma answers. "And I didn't want to say anything in front of Asher or Adriana."

I think I know what he's getting at. "I see. Come on in."