[Mouldy Jam] A Lesson of Kindness

[Lady Luck]

Time and Date:: January 18th - Late Morning
Weather:: Freezing cold, yet not as cold as elsewhere, slightly thawed on the ocean, snowing lightly
 Previous Threads?:: Here Fishie, Fishie

CURRENT IC SEASON - DEVASTATING WINTER

The two headed duo followed behind the larger male, and  as they flew Luck became a jabber of questions and compliments. "You know, I never thought they'd help us." She said happily. "I thought for sure we'd die!" Lady looked to her, surprised at her sudden change of tune. "Why are you so happy? It's not like he's doing this out of kindness.. More or less so he doesn't have to live with the guilt of letting us die-" But Luck was too hyper to care, "Oh and did you see Mouldy? I think he was smiling. And what about Jam? He's a strapping young zippleback and-"

"He's fine." Lady interrupted, pretending not to care, yet she looked forward at the angry head, and even she felt a pang of emotion at all the fighting they had done to pester him. At this Luck turned her head to her sister. "Oh my gosh!" She said in awe, her eyes widening with a goofy smile forming. "What?" Lady said, annoyed at her sisters sudden weird smile and seemingly overly happy demeanor. "You like him!" Luck said teasingly. Lady snorted, "Do not." She said, peering off at the clouds. "Do!" Luck teased more, craning her head over to her sisters. "Do not!"

"Just look at them.. Two hulking zipplebacks, all big and masculine." Luck said dreamily. At this Lady laughed a little, saying jokingly, "Fine, I'll make you a deal. You can have that one," She said, nodding to Mouldy, "I'll have the other." She said, teasing right back, but although it was sarcasm, her sister took her all too seriously.

"You mean it?" Luck said happily. "Oh gosh I can't wait to tell them!" Yet at this Lady's happy-go-lucky demeanor suddenly turned to panic, "No! No, no!" She snapped at her sister to keep her from shouting at the other zippleback their conversation. "I mean, no.. Just, wait.. Get to know them first before you scare them right off." Luck looked to her curiously, whining, "Oh but I don't want to wait. I want to tell them now!" But Lady turned away. "No, Luck. We can't tell them. Not now.. maybe not ever." At this Luck looked at her sister, bewildered, but sensed the seriousness and fell silent as they landed on the sands of the ocean.

[Mouldy Jam]

The flight had been uneventful for the dragon, wings twitching every so often to clear off the snow that managed to settle on their back. Jam was set on their destination, refusing to let Mouldy distract them from the task at claw. A faint tickle in the back of his head told him they were chatting, but he didn't care. They could talk, that wasn't illegal. Mouldy didn't even seem to notice they were making any noise, enjoying the flight a bit more now that the snow wasn't pushing them from the sky.

A quick change in direction, and they landed on the beach. Claws digging into the snow covered ground as they slowed to a halt. «Enough gossip.» They began to strut to where the water should have met the ground. «I'm not landing on ice, so we walk from here.» The ice groaned and creaked beneath his paw as they began to walk forward, but held firm. «It's slippy, watch out.» Jam shot a glance at his other head, as if to say 'Of course it's slippy, idiot.' But otherwise remained silent. Mouldy glanced back every so often, making sure they were following since Jam was keeping them on a fairly steady pace with no stopping.

Now while other dragons would have simply plummeted from the sky into the ocean to snatch up fish, they knew a better way. Stopping a fair length from the shore the two worked perfectly together. A faint puff of gas leaked out, not terribly close to the ice before being ignited. It was enough to warm the ice, and allow the Zippleback to push a hole through. Sitting down, Jam finally glanced back. Plunging his head into the hole he did not resurface for quite some time. Mouldy didn't seem phased by this and in fact turned to face them. «What's it like being ... er... well, a wild dragon?»

He had wanted to ask more, but Jam's head resurfaced with fish hooked over his teeth and jaw seemingly full. Dropping the pile beside him he growled a bit. «I hope this isn't too easy for you.» Swallowing a few he turned away from the female as Mouldy submerged. And moments later, he too surfaced with a mouth of fish. He however began talking before emptying his mouth. «It'sh shooooo eashy!» He coughed a bit as a fish slid down his throat unexpectedly, before adding his bit to the pile as well. «They just kind of hang out below the ice!» He licked his teeth as Jam went under again. «And it's fun too!» Their wings ruffled as another layer of snow settled thick enough to bother the dragon.

[Lady Luck]

The duo flew with a bit of gossip between them before landing on the sandy shores. Almost as soon as they landed Jam put a stop to their gossiping, causing Luck to giggle a little. Lady shot her a look, which caused her to fall silent, yet a sheepish dragon grin still tugged at the corners of Lucks jaw-line. As they said that they'd be walking on ice, Luck suddenly became nervous, "You mean on..." She gulped, "...the ocean?" She hesitated, refusing to move for a moment.

Lady tried to force her forward but she wouldn't budge, simply staring at the ice. "Oh gods, what if it breaks, what if we fall through. No, no I can't do this, I won't-" Yet just then a voice floated back to them; Mouldy. Telling them, or Luck thought her in particular, to be careful. "Right, lets go." Luck said with a sudden boost of confidence, before the duo climbed onto the ice.

Lucks legs were thoroughly shaking, yet Lady seemed to almost enjoy the slipping and sliding of the ice, mesmerized as she looked down at the hundreds upon thousands of fish swimming below her. Just then they all stopped, and the beast lit up a fire. "Oh no, no no!" Luck whined, backing up, "Relax, Luck, I'm sure this isn't his first time doing this..." She looked to them, "Right...?" She asked, a little nervous herself suddenly. Yet just then the ice before them melted and the sisters backed up together, watching as the head known as Jam stuck his head down in the water.

Just as he went down, Mouldy started asking questions, which Luck was all too happy to answer, "Oh, its alright really. Just that you can't trust anyone and go hungry now and then, and no place to keep warm. But at least you can fly wherever you want and all that... Still, I am curious-" At this Lady tried to hush her, but Luck continued, saying it at the exact moment that Jam resurfaced, quite by accident, "What's it like to be a pet... I mean, whatever you call it."

Lady looked to Jam, and stretched out her neck so she could talk to him, "They are annoying, eh?" She said softly, trying to start a conversation, "In an annoying sibling sort of way, of course." Lady looked down at the water, before back at him, "You know, you're not that bad of a fisher. You'd make a fine wild dragon, beast... I mean umm..." She growled nervously, "Jam..." She said softly, yet at his comment she fell silent. "Right then, I'll go first." Lady plunged her head beneath the water, finding it icy cold. The moment she went underwater fish scattered everywhere; not what she was expecting. Yet she found that her long neck came in handy, for even as the fish swam they could not escape her grasp. She found herself spitting smoke out, which caused all the fish in the area to float to the surface, having died from the fumes. Lady, meanwhile, came up with a mouthful of fish and sat it at Jams claws. The fish she had just dropped were still squirming, proving she had caught them herself rather then poisoned them.

Next up Luck went, and Luck of course went for the dead fish floating on the surface. She came up with a pile of dead fish and sat them at Mouldy's claws. "I.. don't think that counts..." Lady said with a laugh. "Besides, that was my kill. Go get your own." Luck growled at her, "Don't embarrass me in front of-" She stopped short, a sheepish smile as she glanced to Mouldy before looking away. "Right, I'll prove you wrong." She went back under the water to catch fish, and was under there some time... before she resurfaced, gasping for air, her jaws empty. Lady laughed despite herself, "Oh that's priceless." She snickered, causing Luck to cringe down to her usual position. "I almost had them..." But all she could hear was Lady's laughter, and as used to it as she was, she still wished she wouldn't have embarrassed herself just then; especially in front of Jam, her sister... and Mouldy.

[Mouldy Jam]

With everything Luck said, Mouldy found his face scrunching up tighter and tighter. That really... didn't sound nice at all. He had clearly had the wrong idea about wild dragons. Glancing back at his tail he frowned a bit, a very wrong idea. He was about to respond when a deep growl rumbled from Jam. «Why would we know?» Jam retorted before Mouldy could get a word in edgewise. Licking his teeth a bit, Jam scooped up one of the larger fish and gulped it down. As one of the female's heads leaned in towards him he found his head tilting slightly. «Ha! You have no idea.» He found himself annoyed with how comfortable this conversation felt.

Jam felt a slight strain as Mouldy started snapping at fish, water rushing in his mouth at the same time. «I'm still a dragon you know.» He looked away slightly offended, and snorted. Mouldy resurfaced and now it was to see how the wild creature fared with their techniques. The scent of gas came from the water, and he blinked a bit waiting for her to resurface. But even he couldn't help a small grin as she dropped the fish. «Who said you can't teach an old dragon new tricks.» He sparked a bit in celebration, but turned away not wanting to admit he was proud. «Nice catch!» Mouldy sniffed at the pile a bit an pulled out a few choice fish.

As Luck resurfaced, Mouldy laughed a bit. «Fish is fish.» He took some of her pile and swallowed them. He watched as she went down again, gurgling contently having stolen a good portion of every catch that had been brought up so far. As Luck returned with nothing in her jaws, Jam couldn't help but snicker. «It's not that hard is it?» His face was smug, pleased that he could do something better than at least half the dragon. «Guess it was too hard after all.» He wore the most smarmy face a dragon could, and Mouldy hated it. «Hey, naw you did good!» He moved forward to bump her head. «Come on!» He moved back to the crack in the ice and clawed it a bit bigger. «I'll show you!» He lingered over the water for a moment, hoping she would catch on. «It uh, takes teamwork.» Glancing at Lady, and then to Jam. «You gotta trust they will breath for you.» He tilted his head getting ready to dive. «You're still one dragon.» And with that he vanished beneath the waves awaiting the female below the water.

[Lady Luck]

At Lucks explained the definition of being wild, she caught a glance at Mouldy. He seemed rather uncomfortable; or maybe just surprised. Whichever the one, she could feel his emotions radiating off onto her as she inhaled. It was one thing to sense regular emotions, it was another when you were crushing on said dragon. To be able to sense what they were feeling was a real joy that most humans didn't have. But before she could read in any further, Jams head popped up with another retort. By now Luck should be used to it, but somehow it still stung a little.

Just then Lady came forward to talk to Jam, which surprised Luck. Luck took the opportunity to speak to Mouldy. "You're awful nice to me. Sister says she likes Jam, and that I can have you and she can have Jam. She didn't want me to say anything, though. I don't know why! It's obvious she likes him... And I mean, you're not so bad either." Meanwhile Lady was having a high old time talking to Jam.

"Really, I think I have the most annoying sibling ever." She said, giving half of an un-amused laugh. She looked over to him, his usual tough attitude seemed to still be there, but there almost seemed to be something different now. What it was, however, she couldn't tell. She looked to him at his comment, smirking a bit, "As am I. And, for the record, I'll try not to call you beast. If you'll call me Lady." With that she dove down, and brought up fish. She was pleasantly surprised at the emotions radiating off of Jam, and though she couldn't detect exactly it was, she knew it was a step up from the snapping, angry dragon she had first encountered. At his comment she laughed, "I'm not old. It was only my first year trying to find a mate this winter..." She looked away as she stopped herself from continuing, and there was a significant pain in her eyes.

Luck sensed her sisters emotions and said quietly to Mouldy, "Sister and I couldn't find a mate this year. Most rejected us because of our runt like stature. But really.. I think it was my fault..." Luck looked down sadly, "No dragon likes to have a mate that has me as the other half." Yet just then Lady gave a growl, signifying it was Lucks turn to go fishing. When she came up with dead fish, she heard the usual remarks from her sister. Yet at the encouragement of Mouldy she smiled and went back down to try again. When she came up with nothing, she found that laughter and jeering met her when she resurfaced.

Cringing to her usual position, she was surprised when Mouldy bumped into her, encouraging her to try again. Luck looked down, "But what if I fail? What if they laugh again?" Yet at his encouragement she stretched her neck out, looking back to the duo who were laughing at her, and heard Mouldy's comment. She smiled a little, nodding at his instructions, before watching him go down. She breathed in deeply and plunged her neck down. As she was under the water, she looked to Mouldy. Captivated for a moment, she gazed at him, before she slowly simmered towards him. Pausing but a moment, she reached forward and moved to run her tongue over his jaw. She didn't know why she did it, but somehow, it felt right.

[Mouldy Jam]

Blinking Mouldy sputtered a bit, gas spilling from his mouth. «Whaaat?» Turning his head, he stared at her. «Have me?!» Mouldy was thrown for a loop at what she was saying. «Like him?!» Finally closing his mouth enough the gas only trickled through his teeth, Mouldy looked a more than a little baffled. He was snapped from it though as Jam laughed rather loudly. «Oh I doubt that.» He snatched a fish up before Mouldy had a chance to devour them all.

He snorted a bit. «You?» He turned his head, a sly grin spread across his face. «You're no lady.» The smuggest face a dragon could pull was all Jam could display right now. «But fine, I'll humour you. M'lady.» He cackled faintly, his grin more genuine as he glanced away wondering what his other half was doing. But he turned his head back, blinking slowly. «Jeez, fresh out'a the nest then?» Jam could hardly remember what it was like, they hadn't had much time in the nest when the humans brought back the dragons to Berk.

Mouldy tilted his head to the side and snorted a bit. «I've met a lot of dragons, they ain't all nice.» Snatching up another fish, he swallowed it down before continuing. «You gotta take what they say with a grain of salt.» Licking some fish scales off his teeth he stared off into the distance.

Jam huffed a bit at the idea of them both fishing at the same time, but he didn't do anything to stop them as Mouldy plunged beneath the ice. He just shook his head and went to grab some fish. Much to his dismay, his pile was pretty much gone. «Mouldy...» He growled a bit knowing his other head ate all the fish while he wasn't looking.

Mouldy grinned as she joined him under the water. Glancing towards the fish, he tried to motion for her what to do. But his attempts were stopped short as he felt her tongue against his jaw. A rush of bubbles escaped his now slackened jaw as he accidentally inhaled a mighty gulp of water. Mouldy's sudden surprise and panic spread to Jam and the dragon began to scrabble at the ice. The sudden movement caused Mouldy to slam his head against the ice before pulling back out of the water.

Water pouring from the gas spitting head's mouth, Jam was panting. «You idiot! Think you're a Scauldron now? Eh?» It was a horrible feeling to feel like you're drowning, but not actually be in the water. And Jam was still recovering while Mouldy was emptying his mouth of what water he hadn't already swallowed. «I. She.» Mouldy sputtered, trying to find his words. «You have no idea!» Mouldy was left grinning dumbly, as Jam stared at him with a glare so judgmental it could condemn criminals.

[Lady Luck]

Luck shrunk down a bit, "Well, ya." She said quietly, "That's what she said. Not that you'd want me or nothing, but the offers there." She said, looking at him with a toothy smile. Just then she looked to her sister and tilted her head, "Wow. Looks like they're actually.. getting along. Surprise, surprise." She said with a small laugh. Meanwhile her sister looked to the dragon.

"Oh really?" She retorted with a laugh, "Not a lady? Would you rather me be a big, hulking brute, much like yourself?" She teased. After a moment when he humored her she put her chin up. "That's better." She growled in a playful way, before she caught his eye, using only her eyes to peer down at him. As she continued talking to him, she shook her head at his question. "No, not exactly. More or less we had no reason to go nesting. We're kind of the bottom of the pecking order, so... It's kinda slim pickings. And the few that will have us.. well.. they are not mate material, lets put it that way."

Her sister meanwhile had gone fishing, failed, and was humiliated due to the laughter that followed momentarily. Then there was Mouldy, there to cheer up and show her how it's done. After he plunged in the water, she followed. She didn't exactly think things through, but somehow the contact of her tongue made its way to his cheek. What happened after that caused her to recoil, watching in horror as he blew out bubbles and hit his head. Instinctively, she sprang forward as he lifted his head out of the water.

Meanwhile, up on land, the reaction with Jam was even worse for Lady to see, for she didn't realize what was happening at first. "Jam-" She started, "Jam, what's the matter!? Breathe!" Before she finally took matters into her own claws and moved to slam her head against his chest in an attempt to knock some wind into him.

And once Mouldy was on land, it was much the same for Luck, as she began to quickly try and mend the situation. "Breathe, breathe!" She pleaded, her tones desperate for him to answer. After a few devastating moments he spewed out water, much to her relief. "I am so... sorry..." Came her pleas of apologies. "I didn't mean to-" But a voice cut her off, sharp and demanding answers, right here, right now.

"What didn't you mean to do?" It was her sister, glaring at her. She was standing, teeth barred at her sister, her neck protectively coiled around Jam. "Luck. What. Did. You. Do." Her sister demanded, as her sister coiled her neck, trying to distance herself from her sisters neck as much as possible. "I.. I.. It was nothing. Just.. Just a simple gesture... a lick, that's all.. I just.. I.. I didn't mean to..." She swallowed hard, "I.. I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry..." Her sister repeated, "You're... SORRY? You could have KILLED him, and you're SORRY?" Her sister shrank down to make herself seem as small as possible, as her sister growled, "SORRY... Doesn't cut it this time. If I didn't rely on you to live, I might kill you myself."

[Mouldy Jam]

Jaws parted, trying to cough up what was stuck in the others throat, Jam gurgled as nothing came. «I'm... water! Mouldy!» Sure enough as she slammed against him he gasped, Mouldy did as well as water poured from his jaws. «What were you thinking?» He scolded his other half, not even caring if he had recovered or not.

Mouldy listened to Luck speak, panting as he tried to catch his breath. «Not.... your....fault...» He managed to gasp between desperately sucking up the air. His neck was slumped, head hung heavy from it. «Oh like Hel it's not her fault!» Jam snarled. Mouldy gave him a pleading glance, but was completely ignored. «A lick? What do you think this is?» Now with both Jam and Lady yelling, Mouldy shrunk back away from the noise.

Sparks flew from Jam's jaws as his neck stretched up. «This ain't some sort of game!» A deep snarl rumbled in his throat she he glared. «Dude, calm down. We're fine!» Mouldy now able to stretch out his neck again, breathing normally once more. «Chill out okay?» Now Mouldy's voice had grown stern. «Why do you have to chase every one away?» Their tail lashed, sending pain rippling along their spine.

«It's always a game! Why wouldn't this be any different?» As he grew more aggressive, the larger dragon began to stomp along the ice. «What you are going to defend her?» Jam snapped in return, claws grinding against the ice with each step. «Of course I am!» Mouldy retorted. «All she did was like us! Why is that reason to chase her away?» Sparks flying from Jam's jaws, he let out a bellowing roar and clamped his jaws down on his other heads neck. «You value her life over ours? Huh?!» He felt the muscles of the other neck quiver as the electricity shot through them. «Because suddenly you care about that? Do you?» He bit harder, teeth pressing against scales. «What about Bearhands?! Did you care about him too?!» But with that, the beast stopped. Mouldy craning his neck to stare at Jam. «Is that what this is about?» Pulling free from the toothy grasp, a few loose scales falling free from his neck, Mouldy glared. «You want to blame me for that too?!»

With a growl from each head, the beast threw themselves down to the ground. The ice groaned and creaked beneath the weight being thrown at it but held. Both heads turned away from each other, refusing to catch the others gaze and refusing to speak. Jam closed his eyes slightly, a pang of hurt as he remembered their rider. It... had been both their fault. But he felt better blaming someone else for it.

[Lady Luck]

Luck cringed down, as Lady hovered over Jam, trying to get him to breathe. As she slammed into him, he seemed to recover. Lady breathed a sigh of relief, before turning angrily to her sister, who was cowering more then usual. Luck glanced side to side, hearing Mouldy's slightly comforting words. "But it is..." She whispered. As Jam started to advance towards her, Luck tried backing away, and even Lady snarled at her other half. But just as her protective instincts for herself and her sister started to reach her, something surprising happened. The other half of the dragon.. stood up for them. Well, stood up for Luck.

It surprised Lady, for few had ever stood up for Luck. It was enough to maker snarls fade as she watched the two suddenly argue, while Luck cringed downwards. Luck reached forward, attempting to stretch her neck out between them, "Please, don't argue.. this is my fault.. blame me... Not him." Yet her pleas didn't seem to be enough, for they started yelling before a name came out.

Lady froze, sensing the sudden rush of emotions, or the raw smell of it, that seemed to spew from them at the mention of the name. Luck piped up, "What happened... to.. umm.. Bearhands?"

Lady growled to hush her, before slowly reaching her head over to Jam, to rest her head beside his. She was silent a moment before she looked over to him, "Whatever happened, its in the past. You can't change whatever happened to Bearhands. I..." She looked down, "I won't pretend to know what it's like to love someone... especially a human... I haven't had that in my life... yet... except for once." She looked back to Jam, "No matter what happened... you still have one thing going for you." She reached forward to nuzzle his cheek, "You have me."

Meanwhile Luck came over to Mouldy, moving to wrap her head over his neck, "Thank you..." She whispered quietly, closing her eyes, before curling her head so she could rest her head against his, "No one... no one's ever done that for me... before..." She looked down, smiling a little, before looking back up at him, "Except you. It.. It means a lot... I... I hope you didn't mind... earlier..." She looked down bashfully, "I really, shouldn't have, but.. I can't stop these feelings.. It's.. never happened to me before.. not like this. I..." She looked to him, "I really like you, Mouldy. I.. I can't deny it any more."

[Mouldy Jam]

A sad noise escaped the dragon, not from one specific head either. It was a low throaty sound coming from deep with in both of them. Jam snorted a bit as Luck dared to ask what happened to Bearhands, but neither him nor Mouldy could be bothered to explain. It was still too raw of a subject for them to touch.

Jam did turn his head slightly as Lady's head lay down beside him. «A rider is so much more than just a human...» He couldn't even bring himself to say more than that. But as she continued he blinked and turned his gaze to her. And surprisngly, he didn't shrink away. In fact he let out a small croon and pressed against her head. He closed his eyes. Maybe this is what they needed? He knew no human could ever fill the void, but maybe they didn't need another human after all.

Mouldy hardly reacted as Luck lay on his neck, a pathetic gurgle escaping his lip. «No one deserves to be treated like that...» Even if he didn't know her, and she hadn't been kind to them, he still would have done it. The next comment caught him by surprise. «I, uh... no it's okay... I just, you startled me.» His words were knocking against each other, causing him to stutter a bit. «I...» He paused, and leaned his head closer to hers. «I guess, I know the feeling?» He still looked down right depressed, but his lips managed to pull into a small grin. «I don't care what any one else says.» A small amount of gas trickled through his teeth. «You are a perfect dragon.» And with that, he returned the lick to her cheek and bumped against her head gently. «And... I think even Jam agrees with me on this one.» His gaze drifted over to his other head, and for once the Zippleback as a whole felt happy.