[PQ] [se] never tighten again

His basket was looking full and mighty fine, Tal thought to himself. He had even started to whistle a cocky little tune when he felt confusion and curiosity from his dragon through their bond. A dragon of Halo, she'd never encountered Chorus bees before and was suitably fascinated by the humming buzz they emitted. Would they make more interesting sounds if they were lightly smacked around? She had raised one paw in preparation to find out--

Lena's call was faint but Tal perked up at hearing it. His basket looked good and he nodded in satisfaction, sending out a sharp whistle to catch Boreal's attention. The dragon reluctantly lowered her paw and grumbled, paws shuffling unwillingly for a moment before she snorted a puff of smoke and turned around to bound back towards her bonded.

Blithely unaware of her close call, Tal scrubbed the itchy spot between her wings fondly as she rejoined him, rumbling a happy little noise that tried to mimic the bees, and the pair headed back to meet up with Lena to proudly offer up the full basket for her approval.

---

Tal calls Boreal back so they can return to Lena and show off their finds!

the earth has music for those who listen

"Yeah, you'd better stay back too!" Mateo calls after the treeflit, needing to spend a few moments catching his breath and untangling the vines from around himself to collect them up in his basket. Once he's sure they're not going to go creeping away (and that all of his mushrooms are exactly where they are supposed to be), he glances up to hear the sound of Lena's voice.

That's his cue, he supposes. And so it's with a bright and dimpled smile that he scampers back towards the sound, careful not to spill anything in his basket as he rejoins Lena and Tal (and Boreal, of course). "Here you go! I got some mushrooms and sentient vines. Oh, and you can have the peppermint bark I collected earlier, too."

Lena

hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul

They all ended up scampering back, winding their way through enclosures and back to the main station – perhaps unaware of just how much trouble they’d avoided. They’re met by Lena’s bright grin and enthusiasm, eyes immediately darting to things they’d found. “Oh, these are wonderful! I think they’ll be very helpful for the future!” She didn’t say it – in case war reached Stormbreak again – thinking the sentiments could be left unsaid.

Together, they sorted, mushrooms going into their designated baskets, peppermint bark, sentient vines, and herbs into others. By the time she’d finished, the Caretaker stepped back, impressed with their work. “Very nicely done. Thank you so much again,” nodding to Talyson, Mateo, and Boreal in turn. From then on, they’d be permitted to meander or wander along the rest of the Celestine, while Lena moved things around, intending to utilize these to accommodate the citizens of the stony world.

--

That wraps it up! Thank you so much for helping!

{FIN}

and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all