The lantern that he had made with Liam hung from the eave of the courier depot-slash-home, burning brightly in defiance of the dark. Light shone from the windows, welcoming and warm on the cold night that lasted seven days, and smoke trailed unseen from the chimney into the greater blackness of the sky above.
The door was, indeed, unlocked, but after Alys's knock there came a bang from inside and a muffled cursing beneath the galumphing sound of a large dog - or the draconic equivalent - charging down a flight of stairs. "Coming!" a half-strangled voice carried through the thick, recently-painted wood before a scaly faced pressed up against the nearest window and Boreal crooned a greeting through the glass.
The door opened a moment later, a sheepish Tal in stocking feet hauling his dragon back by one of her horns so that Alys and Sascha could have room to enter the cozy downstairs of the working courier depot before the cold and dark was once again shut firmly outside. "Alys! Glad y'could make it!" Boreal gave the seer's hand a nudge with her muzzle but then pale eyes fastened on the roly poly little cub and she lit up, forgetting all about the humans. Flinging herself down flat on the ground, she crooned happily to the newest companion, scaly tail sweeping the floor behind her and threatening to take the two-leggers out at the ankles.
"C'mon up. I just pulled the bread out o' the oven an', uh... it's mostly okay. Nothin' a little butter won't fix," he reassured her with a sheepish grin. "How's your LongNight been so far?"
The door was, indeed, unlocked, but after Alys's knock there came a bang from inside and a muffled cursing beneath the galumphing sound of a large dog - or the draconic equivalent - charging down a flight of stairs. "Coming!" a half-strangled voice carried through the thick, recently-painted wood before a scaly faced pressed up against the nearest window and Boreal crooned a greeting through the glass.
The door opened a moment later, a sheepish Tal in stocking feet hauling his dragon back by one of her horns so that Alys and Sascha could have room to enter the cozy downstairs of the working courier depot before the cold and dark was once again shut firmly outside. "Alys! Glad y'could make it!" Boreal gave the seer's hand a nudge with her muzzle but then pale eyes fastened on the roly poly little cub and she lit up, forgetting all about the humans. Flinging herself down flat on the ground, she crooned happily to the newest companion, scaly tail sweeping the floor behind her and threatening to take the two-leggers out at the ankles.
"C'mon up. I just pulled the bread out o' the oven an', uh... it's mostly okay. Nothin' a little butter won't fix," he reassured her with a sheepish grin. "How's your LongNight been so far?"
