Not Ready To Be a Father

Samuel He stumbled into faith and thought God, this is all there is? Sam stared at Mia. Mia stared at Sam. They both had blue eyes, but hers were distinctly cuter. She rolled over and stretched, breaking the eye contact. So far, she had entirely ignored the milk he'd gone to great lengths to procure for her. He was not prepared at all for this endeavour. It had been fate from the moment he'd seen her that he was going to keep her (she was so cute, how could he not?) but he knew little of cat care. Was milk enough food for her? How old was she? She was small and clearly young, but... for that matter, how long did cats live for? The one thing that was certain was that she loved the shop. Mia didn't seem interested in the outside at all, always returning to the store within minutes. He didn't know if it was to do with him or the building itself, but she wasn't going anywhere. Defeated for the moment, he rested his head on his hand and watched her roll, feeling rather inadequate.

Usually Ronin wouldn't really ever have need to go to a bookmaker's, but he was after something... special, he supposed? His lady could chronicle with the best of them, and he wanted to start making a codex, he supposed, of the creatures he had encountered and how they might be dealt with. He could handle the sketching and Vanya could write the notes. But for that he needed a blank book, large enough for the purpose and leatherbound for longevity. So he arrived at Wordsworth Books - which wasn't a great distance from the guildhall, luckily - with all the best intentions and a dragon draped across his shoulders (Sugar was napping, at least, her silvery tail coiled about his neck so he couldn't go anywhere). It seemed polite to knock even though it was a shop, so Ronin did so before stepping inside. He smiled at the sight of Samuel, recognition sparking in his eyes, only for his gaze to flick to the kitten rolling about. He grinned. "A fine addition to the bookshop," he remarked. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

Samuel He stumbled into faith and thought God, this is all there is? A knock at the door caused Sam to look away from Mia (whom was incredibly adorable and easy to watch, as daunting as he found her). Most people did not bother to knock, but before he could say 'come in', Ronin had already entered. At first he was happy to see him, eager to get to know Remi's friends better and considering him a good person anyway, but then he saw...the dragon. Immediately his hands shot out to grab Mia, who protested but was caught, held tight to his chest for protection as he shuffled backwards. "R-Ronin, you have...th-there's a..." He motioned around his neck and pointed at Ronin to indicate the sleeping dragon. Was it trying to strangle him? A slow death he somehow wasn't aware of? Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered Remi telling him of Ronin's dragon, how it was really quite tame and able to be fed, but...he didn't want to risk Mia (or himself) being eaten. Shakily he stood up, ready to run if he had to.

Ronin was about to speak, to say hello to Sam and tell him why he had dropped by, but suddenly the bookmaker was gathering up his kitten and looking quite unsettled. Only when he mentioned the thing that he 'had' did Ronin realise he meant Sugar, the guildmaster glancing to his shoulder where the pale dragonet had lifted her head sleepily, sensing the fuss in the room. She trilled softly to Sam, nuzzling at the back of Ronin's ear, before settling back down to sleep for the time being. Smirking, Ronin glanced back to the Ascended. "She's safe, I promise. Her name is Sugar - she hatched a few weeks ago. Besides, she seems more interested in snoring her head off than you right now." Providing Sam didn't flee for his life, Ronin would approach the other man, grinning at the squirming kitten. "When did you get a pet?" he asked. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

Samuel He stumbled into faith and thought God, this is all there is? The dragon raised it's head, Sam feared it was about to make the final blow on Ronin; but then it relaxed and moved back down, and the Guildmaster didn't seem at all concerned about it. Slowly, he relaxed enough to let Mia drop from his arms (who leapt to the floor and up the stairs, peeking at Ronin through the railing) but still stayed cautious, staring at the sleeping dragon. "Sugar...? B-but isn't...she going to g-get big? And...violent?" Sam's experience was dragons was primarily from story books, in which they were usually beasts to be slain. If they were pets, they were pets of evil wizards. He didn't think Ronin was an evil wizard, but now he was looking him over to make sure. At least he was comfortable enough in the knowledge his cat wasn't going to murder him. "I um...I f-found her yesterday. I think...I think sh-she lives here. Or did. Before I moved in...so I had to look after her. Her name is M-Mia. She's a cat." The last part was painfully obvious, but Sam was still staring at Sugar, rambling in a bit of a panic. "Aren't you w-worried you'll be hurt? I...I'm worried."

Ronin grinned at the kitten as she peeped at him from the stairs, the guildmaster letting Mia be as curious as she wanted for now without trying to approach her very much. Besides, he was more interested for the time being in preventing Sam from having a heart attack. "I'm not sure how big she'll get," he admitted, itching at the scruff on his chin. "But I very much doubt she'll get violent. It's... hard to explain, I guess. It's like we share a connection." He tapped the side of his head, as if that might help to make sense of it. Unaware of his new status as potentially-evil-wizard, Ronin heard Sam out as he spoke about finding Mia. "And a beautiful cat she is too," he agreed with a smile, glancing back up at Mia. All bookshops and libraries could use a cat, in my opinion. And I'm sure I could get hurt, but I've definitely had worse than a nip from her." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

Samuel He stumbled into faith and thought God, this is all there is? A connection....with a dragon? Sam wasn't sure if that sounded very pleasant. He imagined dragons had thoughts that he wouldn't want to be party to. But Ronin was made of different stuff to Sam, and he was much tougher. He might like the thoughts of a dragon...Sam had gotten on an odd tangent. "...Mmm. So..um...where d-did you get a dragon? What...what do you feed her? I d-don't know what to fee...feed Mia. Do you...know what cats eat? D-do they eat meat?" His concerns about the dragon and his concerns about his cat began to bleed together as the two issues literally stared each other in the face, Mia beginning to curiously approach Sugar with a jump from the stairs and a slow walk across the room. "...Um...y-you can say hello to her. But please don't le-let the dragon eat her."

"I was at the Oasis and the dreamfish there began to get into a frenzy. Something below the surface... shifted, or cracked, I guess?" Ronin frowned as he tried to find the right words. "And these eggs floated up. Well... eggshells, mostly. Sugar's was the only one still intact. She hatched a few minutes later." As he spoke he affectionately ran a finger along the dragon's nose, and she chirruped softly in response. As for what he fed her... Ronin shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Scraps of dried meat and a little of whatever I'm eating. She's getting big enough to explore and hunt herself now, though. She keeps the guildhall free of mice." He chuckled, crouching down and offering his hand out for Mia to sniff. "Cats do eat meat, yes, once they are old enough. I wonder what this little one survived on before you found her. And I promise, Sam. My dragon will not eat her." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

Samuel He stumbled into faith and thought God, this is all there is? Ronin's tale sounded like something he'd see while high; Sam wondered if this was some kind of mass hallucination. Eggs floating to the tops of water and hatching dragons was truly fantastical; he'd only found a cat in a house. His own pet story seemed massively inadequate. As he saw Ronin stroke the dragon's nose he smiled just a little nervously, thinking the interaction sweet enough that it took away the sharp edge of the creature in his mind. "...Alright, if you pr-promise." Sam said, still walking forward to take Mia back into his arms after a moment. She struggled for just a second then seemed to relaxed and snuggle into his arms, relaxing and closing her eyes. "I...I th-think she used to e-eat the bats. Maybe." He had felt a little guilty about removing them now. "Did you...w-want something? From m-my shop?" He asked, wondering why Ronin was here in the first place. Not that he wasn't welcome (though he was maybe a little bit not welcome when he came with a dragon) but it wasn't usual for adventurer types to come in. The average customer was someone looking for a quiet moment upstairs or wanting a book for their children.

The little kitten was adorable, and Ronin straightened back up as Sam scooped her into his arms where she settled with relative ease. "The bats, you say? That is quite something..." Especially given how small she was. The guildmaster found himself smiling at Mia; she was a little survivor, by the seems of things, and if she was able to hunt the bats then there was no reason to disbelieve she wasn't able to get her own food now. "Hm? Oh! Yes, I did." He grinned, remembering the reason for his visit. "I am hoping to make a codex of all the creatures we have come across in the guild so far. A blank book, large enough for annotations and illustrations, hopefully long lasting... and I thought there was no better place to come." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving