Left alone with the parents of Arenis and Evander, Viliant did not know what to say. The black dragonet untucked his tail from between his legs. "Uh. Thanks for letting me stay."

The red dragon peered down at the new dragonet that joined his nest. "I'm Fiorden." His wing smacked out to the side, gesturing for his mate to introduce herself next.

"Zinia," the yellow dragoness said past her glower.

Viliant nodded. Evander, Arenis, Fiorden, Zinia, he went over the name's of his host family in his head. Corisande and.... Viliant only knew the name of Fia's mother, given that they had lacked the time for a proper introduction with her father. Then, there's Elder Nura—the best elder of their clan. The dragonet's head spun with all the important dragons of the Carlinoa Island that he had met today.

When Evander returned with a pile of sticks and grass for their guest's bed, Viliant was grateful that he did not need to linger around Fiorden and Zinia awkwardly anymore. How's everything going? Evander asked when Viliant silently positioned himself at the orange dragon's side.

Just splendid. I think…? Although everything went well by Viliant's standards, something felt off to him. The dragonet could not put his talon on it, not even to put order to his own thoughts. The dragonet dismissed the uncertain tension in his muscles, still prepared to fight without any real threat in sight.

It'll get better, Evander promised. As soon as Arenis warms up to you, my parents will too.

An absent-minded nod made Viliant bob his chin up and down. That was what he was missing: a constant, warm welcome like Diwa had always given him at her treehouse in the Malakow Jungle. Even if he lacked that kind of comfort, Viliant did not care. He had gained far more important things in Carlinoa. Here, his wings were already healed. Even without that, Viliant regretted nothing about following Fia to Carlinoa at this point. The island's response to the human invasion might change that, but for now, Viliant was content.

If you need anything, let me know. Evander placed Viliant's new bed into the loft, and he gave the dragonet a lift thereafter.

Thanks. Viliant still had food in his belly from the cooking competition with Mahi. He had shelter to shield him from adverse weather and natural threats. So long as he found one of the clan's watering holes tomorrow, Viliant had all his needs met. That withstanding, he did not want to leave his sustenance up to mere assumption. Will your family provide me with food? Even if Arenis and Evander's family did not give him enough, Viliant figured he could scarf the rest from Fia's family. The dragonet's mind dwelled on his uncertainty around food, leeching over the telepathic link.

Of course, we'll feed you! Evander snorted, and his eyes squinted at some far-off evil that had ingrained in Viliant such anxiety in the first place. The orange dragon realized that he ought to clarify: And if there's anything you want to make your life here a bit better, just say something. Even if it's not strictly a need, what you want is important too. I'll see what we can do.

Viliant's tail flicked into a backward curl out of surprise. Oh. That's what you meant. The dragonet had no idea what he would ask for beyond his basic needs. The adult fire dragons already made it clear that he was not allowed to live with Fia. I'll let you know, Viliant figured, at whatever point he thought of something or something came up.

I train with Arenis at daybreak. You're free to join us. Evander reminded him. The orange dragon lowered his neck away from the loft and returned to the ground floor.

Viliant turned in the loft to face the red dragonet behind him. It's probably best if I don't acknowledge him, Viliant rationalized about Arenis. While the intense eyes of the other dragonet followed him, Viliant tramped his claws in a circle over top of his new bed.

The other dragonet extended the ragged edge of a telepathic link to Viliant. This made one of his green eyes flicker to focus on Arenis. The black dragonet tilted his horns to the side, demonstrating his confusion. Evander ordered his little brother to get along with me already. Thus, Viliant refused to engage with Arenis any further.

The red dragonet let out a huff, no longer waiting with bated breath for Viliant to accept his cordial offer of telepathy. "Mom? Dad?" Arenis rolled his eyes until his gaze settled back on Viliant.

"What is it, my little spark?" Zinia poked her yellow snout into the loft.

"This guy won't talk to me," Arenis whined.

Zinia's eyes flashed at Viliant, filled with ire. "I do believe Evander ordered you to get along."

A snort came from Viliant. Yeah, he thought of Arenis. That's right. Since he had forgone telepathy with him, his smug attitude was not exposed. However, Viliant still stared him down as he thought to himself, You're supposed to get along with me.

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Only, Zinia finished her reprimand toward the wrong dragonet. Her harsh gaze never broke away from Viliant. "I expect you to be nice to my son, little ash." The new nickname for Viliant, she intoned with derision compared to the compassion in which she had called out to Arenis.

Viliant blinked past his shock. Wait, but I didn't do anything. Much to his frustration, he could not growl or snap in his own defense. Viliant had learned how poorly that went over in the civilized parts of Malakow, and this family had no reason to tolerate bad behavior. Even when he tried to ignore Arenis, that earned him scorn. Unsure what to do, the dragonet spiraled his thoughts outward to include the only dragon who took his side. Evander!

A hefty sigh sounded from the first floor. Evander understood the debacle at once, not even needing the nigh instantaneous explanation over telepathy. Their shared mental space expanded to include Arenis and Zinia.

By this time, Zinia had slid her head back down and laid on the ground floor with Evander.

Mother, don't add any more fuel to the fire. We all know why Viliant has to refrain from telepathy with Arenis. That line of thought from Evander carried an implicit accusation, even if the dragon warrior exercised enough discretion to not lean into Arenis any further than that.

I wasn't gonna say anything mean to Viliant! The defense from Arenis leeched a sense of guilt from his mind. Flustered, the dragonet shifted the blame. Viliant has to share his thoughts with me. He talks in bad sentences and does a clicky thing with his teeth! He's hard to understand without telepathy.

You wouldn't understand me anyway, Viliant figured, his mind so distant from the close-knit family.

In some sense, Zinia proved him right. She accepted the bad lie from Arenis and doubled down on his excuse. If anything, my little spark would be doing that one a favor. Arenis might help him learn how to speak properly. Instead, he's ungrateful—

Viliant clenched his jaw and bared his fangs when Zinia relayed her unfiltered opinion of him.

Mother, stop! Evander clipped Zinia from the group telepathy. His immense frustration and disappointment bled over to the dragonets. I'll sort things out with her. His sigh was audible from the floor below. And I trust you two can figure out the best way to interact with each other with or without telepathy—the way that all dragons do. Arenis, if you have anything nice to say, you can say it aloud.

"Right," Arenis squeaked. Now that his older brother revealed his opinion on the situation, the dragonet realized how uncool it was to fuss to their mother about any disagreement.

It'd be nice if you help Viliant learn our language more by talking and thinking to each other at the same time. Evander reiterated the one good point which his mother had made. However, neither of you are ever under an obligation to share telepathy with anyone else. These were basic boundaries that all dragonets needed to learn at some point. Evander flashed his amber eye at them in the loft. Got it?

"Got it," Arenis affirmed aloud.

"Got it," Viliant echoed the same words.

Evander left the two dragonets to figure out their differences. The adult dragon switched to a private, serious conversation to align his mother on how they ought to treat Arenis and Viliant.

Momentarily, the red and black dragonet shared the remainder of the group telepathy—just with each other. From his bed, Viliant blinked at Arenis across the room. Since he felt slighted by the younger dragonet's petty stunt, Viliant waited to see if Arenis decided to do more than just slouch his wings out of shame. "Uh. Sorry about that," Arenis murmured.

The simple apology made Viliant reel back, not expecting that. Although it hardly made up for Arenis's bratty behavior since they had first met earlier today, he considered it better than nothing. Viliant spurned their telepathy to hide his reaction, preferring to communicate with his words exactly what he meant. "It's fine," he muttered.

Arenis gulped back his embarrassment. In the eyes of the fire dragonet, the only thing worse than swallowing his pride for an apology was having his apology rejected. The growl from Arenis peeled into a shout. "Argh! Well, this is still my room, and you're not allowed to cross this line!" A row of tiny flames streaked across the floor of the loft, leaving a scorched mark in the ember's wake.

Viliant watched this happen without budging a talon. "I wasn't moving from this spot anyway." When Arenis heard that, a rapid series of angry blinks fell over his eyes. Before a retort came from his open mouth, Fiorden rested his chin on the loft's floorboards.

"Boys. Don't talk, or bicker in your heads like your mother and brother. And Arenis, no fire inside." Fiorden criticized his own son more who knew the rules of this house. The red dragon dropped back down, leaving Arenis and Viliant to stare at each other again.

The tip of Viliant's tail curled from its spot, buried underneath his coarse bedding. That went a lot better this time, he observed. It was only Zinia who coddled her son like an egg with a thin shell.

Arenis diverted his gaze to the tip of his flicking tail, curled around his legs. Before he needed to change the topic again, the glow of a distant firelight caught the corner of his eye through the low windows. An excited exhale hissed between his teeth, and Arenis thumped his tail until Viliant caved to his demand to hear him over telepathy.

What is it now?

That's Fia! Arenis cheered. She's awake! Me and her used to always play like this. The red dragonet swept up to the ledge which looked across the shallow gorge between the neighboring nests. His loosely coiled tail and his wings, open out of excitement, did not look aggressive or territorial in any way.

Thus, Viliant scampered across the ashen line to join Arenis. Fia…! he reached out before he could even see her. The black dragonet propped his front paws on the windowsill to look out at Fia's small, dancing flame in the dark of night.