peridork | (no subject)

(no subject)

Peridot has a nose for gold. It's a trait common to all types of dragons, from big to small, no matter what their nature or their diet or their habitat. There's nothing special about her, in that regard. What every dragon doesn't have, is the small size and inherent nosiness that Peridot possesses, which has inexorably drawn her inside this strange little human structure.

Dragons love treasure. It's a well known fact, and it's the reason why she's been lingering in here for far too long. Crawling in through one of the battered windows had been easy enough, and from there she had just followed her nose deeper into the house, down into the basement where, lo and behold! Riches lay in wait.

That's how Lapis will likely find her: in the process of tearing apart her basement stash, pulling out jewels and gold and silver from very containers, in order snuffle at them and roll around in a massive pile of wealth.

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"It's supposed to look like that." Her clutter is super important to her, for the record. "And you still haven't told me what you've got in your nest."

The little dragon sits there making uncertain grumbling noises to herself for a few moments before she replies.

"Shiny rocks. Gold coins. And I didn't steal any of it!" she adds abruptly. "It's all stuff that I find on dead humans."

Well, that's actually a little disappointing to hear, but whatever. Lapis was hoping for something bigger, though then again, she really shouldn't have gotten her hopes up for a dragon so small. Still, she gives a contemplative look anyway.

"Hey, roar for me. And I mean a real one." If she at least had a bigger bark than her bite, maybe it'd be good to keep off anyone else who decides that her stash should be theirs.

That's your mistake for assuming she's telling the whole truth, Lapis. Peridot breathes a private sigh of relief; her hoard may be small but she does have a handful of pretty choice items.

The ruby encrusted shield is her favorite. She likes to nap on it.

Peridot looks taken aback. This conversation keeps getting stranger and stranger. "What? Why?" she asks, squinting suspiciously.

"You're not exactly in the position to be questioning what I tell you to do, you know." Thankfully Lapis only believes Her because she's so small. Why would a tiny dragon like this have anything of value?

"I don't really... I don't really roar?" she says, shifting uncomfortably. "I mean I can try, but... Do you seriously think all dragons roar? There are a bunch of different kinds of us you know."

"Seriously? How are you supposed to frighten anyone off?" Unfortunately for Peridot, Lapis knows like, the bare minimum of dragon physiology. "Can you do anything to actually defend yourself?" If not...

Wow, Lapis might actually feel a little sorry for this tiny creature.

"The only thing I know about dragons is how much your parts are worth." Which is sad, but true.

"Of course I can! What do you think these--" she gestures to her teeth, "and these--" she wiggles her claws, "are for?"

Also she'd really appreciate if Lapis would stop talking about selling dragon parts? Like. Yikes.

They're good money??? But also it's not like she'd murder a full sized actual dragon for them, because she's not stupid.

Lapis gives her a completely, entirely unimpressed look. "So what, no breath weapon? Isn't that like, a defining feature of your kind?" This poor, pathetic, sad creature.

"Not necessarily," says Peridot defensively. "Look if you're done ridiculing me, could you maybe just let me out of here? I promise not to come back."

"I'd love to say sure to that, but I really don't think I'd trust a dragon to not come back here to try and steal my goods." Though she pauses, she does thankfully go on before the dragon thinks she's going to murder it.

"So I have a better idea. You put your stuff here instead, and I get a guard dog for my own too." Not that this dragon can even roar menacingly, but it's something at the very least. A deterrent.

"You do what I say and you can roll around in my goods as much as you want."

It takes until that last statement for Peridot to understand that in this scenario, she's the 'guard dog'.

She bristles.

"I am not going to be your pet, if that's what you're implying," she snarls, tail lashing.

"Do you really think i'm going to give you a choice about this?" Because the answer to that is a resounding 'No'. "Because you're super wrong if you think that. I'd say i'm offering you a pretty cushy life in return, you know." All this dragon has to do is bite and claw at anyone other than her who walks in, honestly now.

The VERY NERVE. Honestly, Peridot can scarcely believe her ears. Who does this human think she is? She's still a dragon, even if she is a small one. Humans should RESPECT dragons. And Peridot has done just fine by herself in the wild for YEARS now.

Obviously arguing isn't going to get her anywhere with this, though. So she sits up a little, squinting at Lapis with mock thoughtfulness. "I suppose there is some merit to the idea," she says reluctantly, after a moment. "Ugh... Very well, human. I will concede peacefully if you will permit me to go collect my things."

"Sure." But Peridot is in for a surprise if she thinks that she's going to be going alone. Lapis strides forward to collect her previously thrown dagger and tucks it into her boot.

"Can't wait to see an actual dragon nest anyway." And she's also going to rummage through a neaby tipped pile for a length of chain. She's absolutely not stupid.

Well. While she's doing that, Peridot is going to creep slowly towards the door. "It's not that exciting, I promise you," she says casually.

Is she creeping towards the door? That is unfortunate, an escaped dragon isn't really any use to her, but she seems to remain oblivious to Peridot moving towards it.

Until she gets a little too close, and the door leading back upstairs slams shut all on its own with a distinctive click of a lock. How unfortunate.

"I wouldn't recommend trying to leave on your own. I'm pretty persuasive when I want to be."

Peridot scrambles back with a startled honk, claws clattering across the floor. What the hell. Okay, so the human can use magic apparently! Great. She whirls around to face her again, flattening herself against the floor and growling indignantly.

"Please don't make me have to enchant the chains to bind you really tight. It prrrobably won't feel too great." And to make her point, ahe snaps the chain straight.

One of the dragon's eyes twitches. "You... You can't do this to me!" she protests, outraged. "I am not some sort of domesticated cur that you can just push around as you please!"

"Not yet you aren't." And now that it's been established thanks this poor dragon is more or less defenseless, Lapis has no problems striding forward to cuff some of the chains around her legs.

To emphasize her point, Lapis holds out her hand. "Shake."

Peridot hisses and scuttles backwards when Lapis tries to get closer, adamantly refusing to cooperate. And if Lapis tries to touch her feet, she is going to bite. And it'll be hard to avoid, because she's crouching low, stubbornly curled in on herself.

She follows forward when Peridot scoots back, clearly undeterred. Eventually she'll corner herself. "You really plan on making this hard on the both of us, don't you?" And she can't really figure out why? Don't dragons normally shove themsevles into caves and sleep on gold anyway? What's the difference if it's a basement? She'll still be sleeping on gold. Honestly now.

"Do you really expect me to submit quietly to what amounts to enslavement?" she grumbles, tail twitching. Honestly Lapis, she doesn't even know you and you're talking about chaining her up in your basement.

More accurately, Peridot is a wild animal, and she doesn't yet possess even the tiniest bit of trust for humans.

"It's not really enslavement." No, it is. "It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. You get to sleep on all the gold you want, and I have a dragon to guard my goods." Even if said dragon is only really a deterrent. She shrugs.

Also her basement is pretty nice, for the record? It's only the main floor that's a mess.