A Welcome Mistake
Written by Klesk Vadrigaar

"What do you mean you forgot the ceremonial blanket?"

In the light of the moon, Gyjaras, Gramyn Vadrigaar couldn't tell if his wife struck him more as beautiful or terrifying. Her alabaster scales and pearl dressed mane did positively glow, bathing her in an aura of natural beauty, fitting for a dragoness hatched to the earth and that which gave their homeworld its menagerie of plant life. On the flipside however, the moonlight also revealed her ruby eyes were burning with a desire to enact some unpleasant punishment upon her mate, as well as the fact that her hands were currently clenched in fists of rage.

"I...I swear I didn't mean to, Tara! I had it right on the counter in my lab, I reached for it when you contacted me, telling me the time had come, and...somehow I missed and grabbed this dish rag I used for cleaning my equipment instead."

Despite his towering 10 foot stature and suitably manly, muscular frame, Gramyn could not look any more meek or pathetic. His wings and head fans only wilted further as his mate turned to the egg sitting in placid silence upon the altar under the moon.

"Our child is about to enter this world, hatched under the same moon that has made you one of Arktynes' most revered scientists, and you intend to show Vertrar your thanks by wrapping your offspring in that dirty thing?" She asked, not sounding angry so much as refusing to believe this was happening. For what little face it could save now, Gramyn looked to the dishcloth and let it fall from his hands onto the snow swept ground.

"Well....no. No, of course not! It was a momentary mistake and I shall remedy it right now. Just keep watch over the egg and I'll be right back with..."

CRACK!

Both dragons turned at the sharp utterance that signaled the moment they'd both been anticipating was at hand, though in a terrible twist of luck, it had come at exactly the wrong instant. Both turned to see a long jagged line now etched itself across the egg's shell, slowly widening as the tiny body inside struggled to free itself.

"Gramyn...it's too late. You can't leave now, our child will have hatched before you get back." Tara sighed, covering her face in dismay. Gramyn grit his teeth as he flexed his wings.

"I still hold the council record for the fastest time in a one mile flight..." He said, grasping at what hope he could think of.

"Your lab is back in the heart of the city. However fast you are, you aren't going to make it there and return in time!" Tara groaned, balling her fists up again as she beheld another crack slowly working its way down the egg. "Oh, and I so wanted this to be the perfect ceremony! Our first offspring, a worthy successor to your own genius..."

Gramyn winced painfully as he began checking his pockets.

"I'm sure there must be something we can do..." He said with rapidly dwindling hope. Tara thought to ask him what...however at that moment the egg began to list slightly, bringing her attention back to it. The heated rocks upon which the egg sat shifted with the frantic movement of the life inside the shell. Tara reached out to the altar, ready to rescue her child should something even worse happen.

"I can't believe this." The dragoness sighed as her husband kept checking every possible storage spot on his clothes.

"Hey, did we make it?"

Both dragons turned to see another pair approaching them, the male attired in the same lab coat and science division uniform as Gramyn, while his mate cradled an utterly adorable hatchling in a carrier strapped across her back.

"Oh Crystin, Loria, uh...well yes you're just in time, but I'm afraid we've run into a slight hiccup." Gramyn smiled wearily. "Don't suppose there's any small chance you noticed the ceremonial hatching blanket on my workstation did you?"

Crystin arched his eyebrow.

"Uh, no, you said you had it..." He began, only to then look down and notice the dishrag laying on the snow.

"Well apparently I was wrong...for once...when naturally it really matters." Gramyn groaned as he kept checking his pockets. "Looks like I may have to substitute my coat and pray to Vertrar for forgiveness unless...dammit all this space to carry stuff and the one time I decide to clean it all out..."

The dragon sighed in defeat, leaving his partner to look at his mate expressing some unsaid suggestion.

"Umm...well...I know this isn't quite the same thing but...well, someone just sent us this as a late shower present for Zira..."

Loria reached into her hatchling's carrier, withdrew a stuffed envelope that appeared to have already been slit open.

"Honestly I have no idea what they were thinking with this..."

The dragoness pulled out a scarf, or rather an exaggerated parody of one. As she unrolled it onto the ground, everyone saw it measured over 12 feet in length, and was patterned in repeating colors of purple, dark blue, medium blue, and light blue.

"I mean it possible they wanted it to be long enough that Zira could wear it even once she's fully grown, but at the same time...just...can you honestly imagine being seen in this thing? It's so tasteless, and a tripping hazard...Zira is never going to want to wear this, no matter what age she is!"

Tara hesitantly reached out and touched the scarf. While its design wasn't exactly fashionable it did at least feel soft, probably cashmere or a synthetic replica thereof.

"Well...at the very least it seems like it's well made...and if it was intended for a hatchling then..."

Another sharp crack broke Tara off, followed by the squeak of a body valiantly trying to reach the world outside its shell.

"It's close enough, come on." Tara grabbed the scarf and ran over to the altar, kneeling before it, as a tiny blue claw slowly poked its way through a hole in the egg. "That's it, that's it my little one. Keep pushing!"

Gramyn knelt behind his mate, nervously wading his hands as the tip of a little snout revealed itself. Overhead Gyjaras continued to bathe the scene in its cold yet welcoming light, nurturing the hatchling in its quest to finally come into being.

"Come on, come on." Gramyn urged with his wife, watching his child claw at its egg, breaking little chunks off as light blue albumen dripped from the cracks. Behind the parents to be, Crystin reached and gripped his wife's hand, giving her a relieved smile.

"You may have just saved my partner from a life time of family scorn you know." He whispered, getting a smirk.

"Better he make use of that tacky thing than me...though if that's the case...well, Zira is getting to the stage where leaving her with a hatchlingsitter for a few hours couldn't hurt."

Crystin looked suspicious, but held his tongue.

"Mmmm...better than you trying to rope me into taking her to work." He snorted as Gramyn and Tara gasped in unison.

"Th-There you are!" Tara's shaking hands reached out, gently pulling a piece of shell off to reveal the slimy but still adorable face of her new hatchling. It let out a tiny shriek as its eyes opened to the light for the first time, seeing, much like any child of Arktynes, the three most important first images: its mother, its father, and the ever glowing moon overhead, silently conveying what life lay ahead for it.

"Oh my, you're a little boy! Oooh, truly Vertrar does bless us, not only with another pure child of Gyjaras but a worthy son too!" Tara said, choking up as the hatchling tipped its head forward, as if trying to reach out to her. Unfortunately it was soon to discover that the egg, which had supported it throughout its development, was no longer up to the task due to its weakened integrity. The shell promptly shattered as more weight was pressed against it, causing the tiny hatchling to almost tumble out onto the heated rocks.

"Oooh, careful there!" Gramyn said, reaching out to catch his son with his hand. "It's nice you're as eager to meet us as we are you, but there's no need to rush."

The hatchling let out another shriek as it looked up at the towering dragon. Gramyn, swallowed and smiled as he broke off more of the eggshell, finally bringing his son fully into the world.

"So uh...to quickly get introductions out of the way, I'm Gramyn, your daddy, and this is Tara, your mother." He smiled while he helped clean some fragments of shell off the tiny body. The hatchling rolled over, shrieking again as he saw the other two dragons standing behind his parents. "Oh and that's my partner, Crystin Marakov, and his mate Loria and their own daughter, Zira!"

Loria unstrapped her own hatchling from her back and cradled her in her arms. She brought her down to where she could behold what all four adult dragons hoped would be a new fast friend for her. Zira, to her credit, batted at the hatchling, then just stared in confusion as if pondering what was she supposed to do. Gramyn uneasily cleared his throat.

"Right, well to get the one...um...issue out of the way too, you're getting an extra special treat!" He held up the scarf. "I can guarantee you no other dragon has ever or will ever be welcomed to Arktynes like this."

"Yes and for good reason." Tara sighed as she watched her husband wrap their son up in the blue toned mass of fabric. "Soon as we say the prayer we are taking him back to your lab for the photos. I'm not putting a picture of him in that massive thing on the mantelpiece!"

Gramyn looked at his mate with sudden disappointment.

"Seriously Tara? I mean, okay it's not per ceremonial guidelines..." He held up the scarf swaddled hatchling. "But...come on, can you honestly say this isn't at least a little endearing?"

Tara shot her husband a sour expression, though the sourness began to sweeten a bit as the hatchling snuggled into the cashmere wrapping, shrieking with a sign that it felt comfortable for having just come from the egg.

"Come on, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like he's going to remember this later on." Gramyn said, his voice growing prouder as he looked down at his new son. Tara rolled her eyes and took his hand.

"We'll see. Right now, we have some words that need to be said, unless you want to fly in Vertrar's face about that too!"

Gramyn quickly shook his head.

"No, no, I'm not about to tempt fate any more than I have. Okay together now."

The two dragon's bowed their heads and closed their eyes.

"To thee our almighty Vertrar, for this blessing of new life and new potential, unto us as it is to Arktynes, we praise your righteous name and give unto you our thanks. In infancy, youth, adulthood and final day may this child serve your will with that which your gift has bestowed upon them. With your blessing we shall raise this child to the best of our abilities, and unto him we give the name....errr..."

Tara opened an eye to see her husband's mouth wobbling as if stuck on what to say next.

"Uh...since it's a boy you're still okay with the name I picked out right? Not going to deny me that because I screwed up?"

The dragoness sighed.

"Yes, Gramyn, we're still going with your choice. I'm not that disappointed in you."

The towering male exhaled in relief.

"Unto this child we give the name...Klesk. Klesk Arcturius Vadrigaar!" He said with a grand tremor to his voice.

"And with this act of generosity unto my husband, almighty Vertrar, please forgive him for his shortcomings. He may not be the most reliable for what few shows of loyalty you command, but at heart he is still a good and worthy servant."

Gramyn's glee promptly abandoned him, leaving a sense of scorn as he glared at his smirking wife.

"Now we're even." She said while standing up. "Okay, let's get this little guy back to your lab and into the proper dressing for his first day!"

Gramyn reluctantly handed his son over to his mate and spread his wings.

"Yeah fine, but I'm keeping the scarf!"

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-You’re writing a Father's Day card, Klesk?- SALI queried as the aforementioned dragon typed away on a personal console.

"Indeed. I mean, why not? It's the right time in this planet's cycle. No reason I can't send a good word back to Arktynes."

A low whirr echoed around the lab, expressing a sense that SALI could not believe what her cameras were telling her.

-None at all, save that these would be the first good words you've had to send back in some time. May I inquire why?-

Klesk idly adjusted his scarf as he continued typing, a wry smile crossing his face.

"Dad's made many mistakes, some of which may have soured the mood between us. But for what misgivings I may have...none of it can override the feeling of this around my neck." Klesk replied as he idly brushed off the soft cashmere, relishing how it still felt exactly as he remembered on the day of his hatching. "Gotta remember that we all deserve some forgiveness, and that some mistakes can result in surprisingly welcome results."