Dragon caretaking 101 (Open to all)

At the very heart of this world, resting at the center of the continent of Valentyme lay the kingdom of Kintesh. It rested as the greatest power possible in the land. It possessed the most economically strong populace and it also controlled the dragons.

Of course, controlling dragons also meant keeping them happy. Usually this could be done by merely giving them a good meal every now and then or letting them stretch their wings, but it also meant keeping them clean. To do this, they hired cleaners and caretakers to keep the dragons as shiny and new as possible.

Nalit was one such caretaker. He was a neko who had been cleaning the dragons for three years now and was only twenty two. He'd been doing it so well since his first day that all the dragons had made good friends with him. He knew all their names, what they liked best, what they disliked worst, and so on... and knew their wants and needs when cleaning them.

He was currently scrubbing the stomach scales of one of the younger dragons, Zilm, with his mate patiently waiting her turn. Nalit smiled down at the dragon. "Must be fun, those mud wrestling matches... what's your record now?"

Zilm smirked. "Sixty-eight wins, four losses, twelve ties."

His mate, Shasha, smiled. "Don't get too cocky, dearest. You know that you will have to settle down a little bit when the clutch comes." She was due to lay eggs any day now. As part of his job, Nalit also acted as a midwife and helped to clean the babies after they were taken out of the eggs... he even fed them their first meat. "It feels like a big one.

Nalit smiled up at her. "I certainly hope so. I'm very happy for the two of you and I hope your clutch is large this time. Last week's clutch, Myriad's and Zelka's, it was a good one, but most of the eggs turned out to be duds, unfortunately.

Zilm nodded. "It was a shame... but the ones that did hatch were wonderfully healthy, we must be thankful for that." He craned his neck. "Are you about done with my stomach? I'm getting hungry."

Nalit smiled and chuckled as a huge rumble from the stomach in question made him stumble. "Well, you know you can't eat anything yet until I'm done. It's the first of the month, you know."

Both the dragon's groaned... and in fact, every other dragon within hearing distance groaned. When the dragons out of hearing distance asked what the groaning was about, and were told, they groaned too.

"That's right!" Nalit exclaimed happily. "It's your dental checkup day!" Dragons hated having their mouth checked just as much as humans did. It was also nasty business for the cleaners, having to actually enter a dragon's mouth to fully check it and scrape bits of half-chewed rotton meat off of their gums now and then.

[Xam]

When Kyrie heard the news, she was probably the only dragon happy within a mile radius. She didn't require the same dental treatment as the others thanks to her human form. Even her dragon form was very human, except for its wings and claws, and it covered her in fur as pink as her hair. Because of all this, they gave her a job as a dragon caretaker, but she didn't know much about regular dragons, getting her in trouble with Nalit on more than one ocassion.

Zeke on the other hand was displeased. He had a human form, but he was lazy so he stayed in dragon form most of the time. He was a large dragon with horns and many powerful abilities, which supplied to his current winning streak. He had a plan to get out of the dental check-up, but he wanted someone to do it with him, and that's when he noticed Kyrie. "Hey Kyrie, wanna ditch the appointment and go to the oasis."

Kyrie loved the oasis more than anything. "I'd love to, but, wont we get in trouble?"

"Nah, they'll never know, as long as you don't tell this time."

At that moment Kyrie heard Nalit calling her. "I'll think about it," and she rushed off to see what Nalit wanted, considering the consequences.

Nalit looked up and smiled at her for a moment when she was approaching. "On time this time, huh, Kyrie? You're improving!" He smirked at her and started to run the brush up and down against Zilm's huge teeth. "Come on, I need your help to floss and clean the dragon's gums, okay?" he asked. He frowned after a moment. "And just where is Zeke? He's supposed to be getting Sasha her medicine!" The medicine was a huge bowl of herbs dipped in boiled water to give it a mint taste. It helped her deal with the discomfort of pregnancy.

[Xam]

Kyrie gained a look of suprise for a moment. "Oh he's being a little lazy, but you know how fast he is in his human form. I'm sure he'll take care of it any minute now."

This was true. For Zeke to be able to sneak out, he would have to take care of his responsibilities first. He then transformed into his human form. He became an average looking boy with deep blue hair, and saphire eyes. He picked up the bowl of medicine and strained under the wweight. "There's gotta be a better way!" He placed it on the ground and tied a rope to it. He then began to drag it along, having a hard time still. "Doesn't look like I'll be running! I just hope I don't hit a bump. Who knows what will happen if I spill it again."

Nalit nodded. "I hope so. I don't want to have to scold him again." He scrubbed another tooth and poured a bucket of soapy water over Zilm's mouth. It didn't hurt their insides, and it was the best way to get their mouths perfectly clean, but it definitely didn't taste good. He stepped away. "Rinse and spit." he orddered.

Zilm did so, emptying his mouth out onto an unoccupied bit of hay before moving back down. "You know I hate this next part." He glanced at Kyrie for a moment and nodded in acknowledgement, opening his mouth again."

Nalit nodded. "I know, I know... you hate the whole process." He pointed to a large metal scraping hook. "Kyrie, grab that and bring it into his mouth and start scraping the excess meat out from between them while I get the whitener ready."

[Xam]

She grabbed the large metal scraping hook, and began to floss the inside of Zilm's mouth."Don't you worry Zilm. I may be a clutz, but they're isn't a hook in the world I can't use." She thought to herself for a moment and stopped flossing. "Um, Nalit. Do scythes count as hooks?"

Zeke manuvered around the dragons and managed to make it to Sasha. Once to her he plopped onto the ground panting heavily. He looked over to Nalit and said, "Aside from Kyries' question, answer one of mine. I may be weaker in my human form, but how can a bucket of plants be so freaking heavy?!"

Nalit smirked at Zeke. "When the small and meek join forces, they can often bring about the downfall of the big and powerful." He told the young dragon. "Now, don't just stand there, come here and help me mix the whitener while you're here." He looked at Kyrie. "And no, they don't." he told her. He stopped. "And be careful this time. We don't want a repeat of what happened last month to poor Zyx over there." He pointed to a large black dragon who was giving Kyrie a large glare for jabbing the hook deep into his gums last month. It had taken the combined efforts of Zeke, Kyrie, and Nalit to remove the hook, and afterwards, Nalit had given her a good long lesson on using the hook.

Zilm visibly shifted, uncomfortable at having this done.

[Xam]

Kyrie chuckled nervously. "Don't worry, Zeke has been letting me use him for practice lately. There's no way I could mess up again, right Zeke."

Zeke walked over to Nalit and said, "She enstills fear into my soul when near my mouth. Please don't let her near my mouth..." He looked over to Kyrie briefly. "eveeer." As they mixed the whitener with Nalit Zeke asked, "Hey Nalit. What's it like brushing your teeth daily? I'd ask Kyrie, but everyone says girls are different from boys, so I figured I'd ask you."

Kyrie looked over angrily and said, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Nalit shrugged. "It isn't that different. Dragon's age slower than most of us... though I'll probably live for a very long time, I still am only a neko. We tend to have our particular bodyparts age faster than most. The same goes for teeth." He smiled and finished mixing the whitener. "Oh, and he meant that you and the other females were different, that's all, Kyrie. Don't take everything so seriously." He chuckled. "Also, Zeke, she won't go near your mouth, I'm the one giving you two your checkups."

Zilm gave a loud grunt. "Ar ou al-ost un owne ere?" he asked through an open mouth.

Sasha laughed. "Don't talk with your mouth ful, dear." she teased, munching the minty plants.

[Xam]

Zeke shivered at the words "your checkups." If he was gonna sneak out, it had to be soon. He knew he offered for Kyrie to come with him, but he might leave if she became a distraction. Then he remembered her big mouth, and he would need her to come to keep her silent. So it was either she came, or he didn't leave at all. Either way, the consequences could be bad for him.

Kyrie said, "Okay Zilm, your done. See, not a scratch on you."

Zeke said, "That's nice Kyrie, you just got a Couple Hundred More To Worry About!"

Kyrie was known for her short temper. "Would you be quiet?! I dought there's that many left, so buzz of blueberry brain!"

"No you, strawberry top!"