Surviving the Scaly Slow Life

Everyone was eventually seated in the main family room, where Gruul set out a several platters of snacks and tea. 

Naturally, the hungry child wanted to consume it all but was held back at the last second by her mother and given a large chocolate chip cookie instead. Titania did not want to be outdone and nabbed several other snacks, mostly different flavors of cookies, and fed the child as well. 

They spent the next thirty minutes or so feeding the child until all the cookies were eaten. BUT! Being the prepared auntie she is, Titania pulled out a small pack of cookies, this time a flavor from her kingdom.

 

"Fufu~ lookie here, sweetie. These ones are Auntie's special recipe~. Go ahead, give them a try." [Titania]

"*Nom nom nom* ,*Gulp* Tasty!" [Lucillia]

"Fufufu~, I still have plenty more, so make sure to eat lots, okay~?" [Titania]

"Mmm! *Nomming intensifies*" [Lucillia]

 

As the nomming dragon nommed away, Corinna looked a bit dejected at losing the feeding war to which Titania extended a helping hand, er well, cookie. With a loud sigh, she accepted the cookie and starting nomming on it. It was quite tasty as Lucillia said.

 

"What flavor are these, anyway?" [Corinna]

"They're my special vegan recipe. The main ingredients are oatmeal, crumbled nuts, and soy milk. Scrumptious, aren't they?" [Titania]

"...Maybe." [Corinna]

"Fufu~ Good. Lady Tiamat used to complain about how you never ate your vegetables, so I'm glad my tactics are working." [Titania]

"Okay, first of all, I am perfectly fine without vegetables in my life. Second, how do you even remember that? I can literally count the number of planets that have formed since then." [Corinna]

"Hmph. How could I call myself a good aunt if I can't even remember such important details about my cute little sister?" [Titania]

"Since when were we sisters? Also, I'm pretty sure I'm older than you." [Corinna]

"Since the day I met you. Here sweetie, say 'Aahh'~" [Titania]

"Aaaaahhhh-*Chomp!*" [Lucillia]

"Last I checked, we're from two different galaxies." [Corinna]

"So? Who said you had to be related to be family?" [Titania]

"Don't I get a say in this?" [Corinna]

"Well, you've never rejected me, have you?" [Titania]

"Not really." [Corinna]

"There you go, problem solved. Also, your mother told me I was born a couple million years before you, so I am actually older." [Titania]

"Ugh, fine." [Corinna]

 

The pair continued their conversation while the small one nommed away. Eventually, though, she stopped receiving cookies in order to leave room for lunch, to which she became a pouty dragon. 

On the other hand, Mira and her fishy (kinda) relatives were continuing their catch-up session. Lucillia eventually got bored after she stopped getting fed, so she hopped off her mother's lap and went over to see what was going on at the other side of the room. 

Of course, her choice of seating was her maid's lap.

...

At least, it would have been if she wasn't standing up to serve tea and snacks. The little dragon was obviously dismayed but quickly found interest in a different topic: tails. 

Unlike Mira's tail fin, which runs vertically and moves side to side, the tail fins of her relatives are vice versa; they run horizontally and move up and down. 

Naturally, their fins are also much larger than that of Mira's, which makes a perfect spot to climb on.

 

"Oh my. Hey there, Princess. Be careful not to fall off, m'kay?" [Naida]

"So...BEEEG!!" [Lucillia]

 

The tiny dragon was particularly fascinated by the large flipper at the end of the tail. The flipper, or rather, the fluke was so large that Naida had to sit on a stool since no other seats had enough clearance for it. 

Unfortunately for the dragon, she slipped on the blubbery surface and fell off the tail. Fortunately for the dragon, her maid caught her just in time once more, not that anything would have happened if she didn't.

 

"WAAAH?!!" [Lucillia]

"Please be more careful, Your Highness. Kitos tails are covered with blubber rather than scales which makes them much more slippery than tails like ours." [Mira]

"Cool...who dis?" [Lucillia]

"Oh yeah, we kinda forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we? Ahem! I'm Naida, a Kitos as you can see, but you can just call me Mira's big sis~" [Naida]

"Correction, Naida is not my sister. She is simply the closest existence to one after my actual sister." [Mira]

"Awww, come on, Mira~ Haven't we done enough together already? What about all those times we washed each other and slept together and babysat the kids together?" [Naida]

"How about you introduce the kids that are sitting right there?" [Mira]

"Nah, they can do it themselves. Right, ya landlubbers?" [Naida]

"Hey! It's not our fault we spent the last few months in the middle of a forest!" [Ren]

"Don't you take that tone with me. I saw you getting close with that sylph. Why don't you two hurry up and give me some grandkids already?" [Naida]

"For the last time, Mom, WE'RE JUST FRIENDS!!!" [Ren]

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, kiddo. I don't think 'just friends' would feed each other, buy clothes for each other, sneak out on walks together-" [Naida]

"Wait, how did you know we snuck out?!" [Ren]

"You told me just now. Also, neither of you were all that subtle about it, you know~" [Naida]

 

The mother-son duo continued discussing the young Kitos' fledgling love life, much to his dismay. In the mean time, the other Kitos was nowhere to be found. 'Twas as if she simply vanished from sight...

 

"NYAA~!" [Raine]

"WAAAH?!" [Lucillia]

 

Never mind, there she is, in plain sight this whole time. While the others were distracted, the younger Kitos snuck around and plucked the dragon off the ground. 

 

"Awawawawa." [Lucillia]

"Hehehe~ It's a little colder than I imagined, but she's so SQUISHY!!" [Raine]

 

It would seem the younger Kitos has a sudden case of the cuddles. Unfortunately for Lucillia, the only cure for the cuddles is to cuddle for an extended period of time. And because the whale was wearing nothing more than a bikini top, the young dragon was given a face full of booba. At the very least, her elder dragon body is capable of handling such intense cuddling...probably.

 

"Hey Mom! Since you're on the topic of kids, why don't you and Dad give me a little sibling?" [Raine]

"Hah! No. You two calves are enough of a handful already. Why don't you go ahead and give me grandkids instead? Your brother seems like he'll take a while on that front." [Naida]

"Does it look like I have anyone to do that with?" [Raine]

"I thought you were bi. Shouldn't you have better chances with that?" [Naida]

"Two times zero is still zero, Mom. Why don't you find me a partner if it's soooo easy?" [Raine]

"Hmm, well I'm sure there's a couple lonely dragons around here. Or maybe that one Oni girl from a while back? She was pretty cute. Maybe she's your type? OH! How about that other Kitos family's son? You two got along pretty well when we visited them." [Naida]

"Nah, he's not interested in women. It wouldn't ever work out anyway. He's the kind to travel around a lot while I just wanna stay home like Dad." [Raine]

"You'll take on a lot of blubber like that, you know? The only reason your father hasn't is because he swims a dozen astronomical units at least once a week." [Naida]

"Oh, is that why he's super hungry whenever he disappears for a day and comes back at dinner?" [Raine]

"Yup. But that's enough about your father, come help me nag your brother." [Naida]

"Kayy~" [Raine]

"Ughhh..." [Ren]

 

At this point, the Kitos family became lost in their own world, and the little dragon was finally let down from the clutches of the youngest whale. 

Corinna and Titania also wrapped up their conversation and walked over to the rest of the gang. This gave the little dragon a chance to ask her mother something that popped up after listening to the noisy pod of whales.

 

"Mama! Mama!" [Lucillia] 

"Yes, sweetie?" [Corinna]

"Where Papa? Or otha Mama?" [Lucillia]

"Kya!~ Did you hear that? She wants another mama! Your other mama's right here, sweetie~ Come here~" [Titania]

"Stop that. To answer your question, sweetie, there is no Papa or other Mama, and there never will be. I am your one and only parent in both blood and name." [Corinna]

 

Naturally, she sent a glare at the nearby Fairy Queen while also holding her down with a tail, not that either of them worked. The Fairy Queen simply turned into sparkles and reformed her body half a meter away.

 

"Ahem. Anyways, did you have any more questions, sweetie?" [Corinna]

"I'm hungwy." [Lucillia]

"That's not a question...but whatever. I guess you haven't even had breakfast yet, so that's probably why." [Corinna]

"Ara~, did Auntie make you skip breakfast, sweetie? Don't worry sweetie, we'll go fix that right now. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all~" [Titania]

 

The two mothers(?) accompanied their daughter to the kitchen, leaving the pod of whales to enjoy their family bonding moment. The diligent maid known as Mira was about to go with the others as well, but...

 

"Heyyy~ Where do you think you're going?" [Naida]

"I must accompany Her Highness whenever and wherever possible." [Mira]

"You see her everyday. I'm sure the two of you can survive a little separation from each other right? This is our precious family time, after all~" [Naida]

 

The adult whale flashed a smile at the maid's employer, that is, the small dragon being carried away. Just as the trio were exiting the door, Lucillia overheard the conversation and gave a thumbs up in response. 

Thus, the fishy maid was officially given leave for the day and promptly kidnapped whisked away by her dear cousin. 

 

---

 

Lucillia

 

Hmm...I'm not sure how I feel about this. 

On one hand, Auntie Tia is really nice and warm and gives me lots of snacks and hugs. On the other hand-

 

"Come on, sweetie~ You need to eat lots and lots to get big and strong~ Here, have another sandwich. There's still plenty more~" [Titania]

 

-it's almost too much sometimes. 

I mean, I don't hate any of it, but too much of anything is bad, you know?

Eh, whatever. Maybe I should just stop thinking about it and embrace everything. 

 

"(^_^)" [Titania]

 

At least it's a nice day out here in the garden. Plus, Gruul's sandwiches are really good. 

 

One meal later

 

Waaaahh~

There's so many flowers! THEY'RE SO PRETTY!!!

 

"Fufufu~ You haven't seen any of these before, have you sweetie?" [Titania]

"Mmm!" [Lucillia]

 

I remember every flower in the gardens, but there's nothing like these ones there!

 

"That's because these are summer flowers, sweetie~ We're in the middle of spring right now, so none of these are blooming yet." [Titania]

 

Summer? Spring?

Hmm...aha! Those are the things that change depending on the time of year, right? The weather and stuff changes too, right?

 

"...Uhh, Corinna? Is there are particular reason why she doesn't know her seasons yet?" [Titania]

"I might have forgotten to teach her those...and maybe how to read a calendar..." [Corinna]

"How is it that you forget to do that every time? You remember to teach the children magic, geography, and even about Celestials, but you can't teach them how to tell time?" [Titania]

"It slipped my mind?" [Corinna]

"Each time? For every one of your daughters?" [Titania]

"Yup." [Corinna]

"Haah, I can actually believe that, annoyingly enough. You'd think someone with a Space-Time attribute would be capable of teaching time, but whatever. Ahem! Well, sweetie, if you can listen to me for a few minutes, I'll explain to you how the seasons work on this planet." [Titania]

 

.....

 

So apparently, a year on this planet is made up of 384 days, 24 hours each, and has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. 

Each season lasts about 3 months, with 4 weeks in each month, and 8 days each week. In other words, a month lasts 32 days and each season 96 days.

We refer to the date by saying which day of the current month followed by the month of the season. For example, today is the 23rd day of Second Spring, or just the 23rd of Second Spring.

That also means that my birthday is the 22nd of First Spring. Or is it my hatching day?

Well either way, that's the correct day, right, right?!

 

"Right?!" [Lucillia]

"That's correct, sweetie~" [Titania]

 

Sweet! 

Here's another thing: generally the first and last months of the season, in particular the very first and very last weeks are sort of transition periods between seasons. It's during those times that things like the weather slowly change and stuff. 

That's why it was kinda cold when I first hatched. There was still a little bit of winter leftover that didn't disappear until this month, which is why it's warmer now. 

At least, that's what Mama just told me, but everything just felt the same for me. OH! I did think the sunlight got warmer recently, though! 

Not that I need any excuse to go outside and b-b...baa...

 

"Bask in the sunlight?" [Corinna]

 

Yeah that! 

Mama's reeeeally warm, you know! The sunlight is warm, too! But when you combine both of them together...

Ehehehe~ Sooooo comfyyy~

So...sleepyyy...Zzzzz...

 

---

 

The hypnotizing rays of the delicate sunlight proved to be too much for the little dragon's cold blood and caused her to fall asleep on her mother's lap. 

Titania noticed the young dragon's nap and stopped growing summer flowers to show her. Instead, she plucked a few of the little one's favorites and made a small flower crown.

Corinna followed up with a stasis spell on the crown, preventing it from ever wilting while maintaining the physical properties of a real flower. 

The two gently placed the crown upon the sleeping princess' head and admired their work. 

They shared no words, for none were necessary. 

All they needed to do was to simply enjoy the day. 

 

.....

 

The peaceful morning continued as the hours passed by. 

At some point, the trio was joined by Silvania who came to water the plants for the morning. 

To help speed up the process, Titania joined her while using it as an excuse to catch up with one of her other nieces. Within 20 minutes, the plants were nice and hydrated. 

Silvania sat by her mother's side and joined her in petting the sleeping dragon. 

Once more, the silence set in, and the day passed by.

 

.....

 

As with all good things, the peaceful atmosphere ended when lunchtime came. And as if she was on cue, the sleeping dragon rose from her slumber. 

This time, she was being carried in her sister's arms. 

 

"Fwaaaa~...Good morning..." [Lucillia]

"Wakey wakey, sleepy drakey~ You've gotten really big, you know. It's starting to get hard to carry you all the time now." [Silvania]

"BWUH?! Nooo, I don't wanna get beeg, I wanna shtay smol!!" [Lucillia]

"Well, I guess you won't be eating any more food then. It'll just make you big after all." [Silvania]

"!!!" [Lucillia]

 

If you looked inside the small dragon's head, you would stand witness to a grand battle between two factions: the food faction and the smol faction. 

The battle was fierce and devastating; the sacrifice of many brain cells would not be forgotten. It lasted several long, gruesome microseconds.

The smol faction was routed, for the food faction was far too numerous. They appeared from nothingness within the hippocampus.

The food faction pushed their adversaries back, claiming all parts of the brain along the way. 

Ultimately, the smol faction was forced to make their final stand in the cerebral cortex, where they fought until the last brain cell standing. 

Victory for the food faction. Glory to the Food God!

 

"NYOOO! I WAN FOOD!! GIMME FOOD!!!" [Lucillia]

"Alrighty then, let's not keep our sisters waiting any longer." [Silvania]

 

The two went into the dining hall and joined their other sisters. They then had another wonderful bout of 'who gets to feed the hungry dragon.'

Off to the side, the Kitos family and Mira were seated at a table used by servants rather than the main table. The two children were listening to Mira tell stories of their mother and aunt's childhood. 

And at the head of the table, Corinna and Titania bore witness to all of the above, observing, admiring, and relaxing.

 

"They sure get along well, don't they?" [Titania]

"Which ones are you talking about? The spot with the increasingly red whale or the one with the miniscule food war?" [Corinna]

"Both. Still though, I find it amusing that someone like you would end up surrounded by all these loving families. Quite a contrast from what you used to be." [Titania]

"That was a long time ago. I'm not even sure I remember all the details correctly." [Corinna]

"You were a cold, frigid, stubborn bitch who got annoyed easily, tried to murder whoever annoyed you, and to top it all off, you were a NEET." [Titania]

"Harsh." [Corinna]

"But true. You never talked, rarely came outside, and you spent most of your time with that old geezer at Heaven's Gate after your parents left for the Divine Realm. And then you'd never visit them." [Titania]

"I didn't need to. I already spent enough of my life living with them. A girl needs to spread her wings, you know." [Corinna]

"Either way, you never even spoke to anyone else. I had to spend millions of year carving away at your ice cold exterior before you finally said 'Hi' to me. Don't even get me started on what a certain bird had to do to get your attention." [Titania]

"It was a new land full of new people. Of course I was shy." [Corinna]

"You were a, what did the kids call it, a kuudere?" [Titania]

"Alright, stop it already. I get your point." [Corinna]

"Ah! That reminds. I should go and tell the children some stories from back then. I'm sure they'd be quite surprised." [Titania]

"Haah, just make sure I'm there as well so you don't delude them too much." [Corinna]

"Oh, come on, they aren't delusions. They just haven't seen that side of you." [Titania]

"And they never will." [Corinna]