Dragon's Garden
A static sun hangs overhead in a cloudless blue sky, shining down on grass, flowers and trees with colors that seem just a bit too vibrant to be real. The babbling brook nearby tends to repeat itself, and the grass is a bit overly cushioned and even. The center of the garden has a picnic laid out under the shade of a large apple tree, its limbs burgeoning with golden fruit.

In the shade of a tree sits a lone figure: a strawberry-blond elf girl with light skin and a blue dress. She has a stringed instrument in her lap (possibly some sort of dulcimer) that she's concentrating intently on. The woman doesn't seem to notice Alptraum's arrival, or else she probably wouldn't be cursing so much over a missed note as she tries to play her instrument.

Why is it that Alptraum can never resist a chance to misbehave? Maybe its one of those universal truths about mortals who have dabbled far too much in the lands of the immortals. The Eeee tries to sneak up on the elf so that he's standing right behind her…

"Dum dee, dum dee, ta ta ta -" the elf mutters as she plucks at the strings, until one of the notes comes out wrong again. She slams her palms down onto the strings to silence them, and seems to just… growl… in frustration.

And that's about when Alptraum slips his arms around the elf so that he covers her eyes with his hands (and hopefully enough to keep the elf from braining him with the instrument. "Guess who?" he hisses in a playful tone in her ear.

"Aaaaagh!" the woman cries and tries to smack Alptraum with the dulcimer!

Having half expected it, Alptraum makes a grab for the instrument to keep from getting whacked! "Gah, no need to be so violent!" he says.

Letting go of the now-captured instrument, the elf jumps back from the tree. She puts one hand to her heaving chest and glares at Alptraum with gray eyes that are almost as silvery as his own. "What did you think you were doing?" she demands.

"Listening to you butcher music, unfortunately," Alptraum comments as he waves the instrument. "You're trying too hard, you know. I was trying to … well … be a bit distracting," he claims.

"Why?" the girl asks next. "Who are you?"

"The overseer of this world!" Alptraum claims and spreads his arms in a grand gesture. "Well, sort of overseer in partner with Kaira. I'm a little offended she hasn't mentioned me, it seems; I'll have to bring that up. Why are you in her private garden?"

"Wait, you're Alptraum?" the elf asks, with her jaw dropped. "You are the God of Death? And… what do you mean why am I here? Didn't she ever mention me?"

"Well, I don't know about God, but I am Alptraum," the Eeee answers and sits down on the grass and sets the dulcimer in his lap. He pats the spot near him as he adds, "And no, she hasn't. Who are you?"

The elf gives the bat a suspicious look, but then relents and goes to sit next to him. "Who do you think I am?" she then asks, trying to look haughty and important.

"Her secretary," Alptraum suggests a bit absently as he starts fiddling with the dulcimer. He's actually starts checking the scales and string tone. Eeee ears, if nothing else, are excellent for tuning an instrument. "I don't bite, by the way. Well, not unless asked."

"Secretary?" the elf asks icily. "Do I look like a secretary to you?"

"Do I look like a God to you?" Alptraum asks, "Appearances are deceiving." He then reaches over and picks up her left hand to inspect her palm, fingertips, and nails.

The woman blinks at having her hand… handled. The skin is smooth and soft, and the nails finely manicured and painted with something that resembles mother-of-pearl. "Well, yes, they can be," she admits.

"Hmm, you should be using a nail pick when be playing this. It'll keep you from developing callouses or breaking a nail," Alptraum comments as he taps the tip of one of her fingers with his own claw. "I'm lucky, I have build in picks. And you still haven't told me who you are." He grins fangily.

"Oh, you're asking then?" the girl asks. "You want to know… my name?"

"Not your true name, your common one," Alptraum notes as he starts plucking away on the instrument in his lap (and playing it fairly well, all told). He rolls his head to the side and flutters his eyelashes at the elf, then grins fangily again, "Or are you going to continue to be difficult? I have ways of making you talk… "

"Oh, you do, do you?" the woman asks, almost in challenge. "What's it worth to you to know it?"

"Its only to satisfy my own curiosity," Alptraum comments as he continues to play, "So, what do you want for it?" Behind him, he gently nudges his own shadow, trying to get his shadow cloak to flow out a bit, then behind the elf. If she's going to be difficult, well … so will he!

"Music lessons?" the woman asks, giving Alptraum a smile.

"Ah, well, that I can do!" Alptraum agrees and withdraws his shadow cloak. The nefarious restrain and tickle will not be necessary. "Sit in my lap," he says and lifts the instrument out of the way. "I'll guide your hands."

The woman looks skeptical, but finally sits in Alptraum's lap.

Alptraum brings the instrument back around and places it in her lap. He looks over her shoulder and rests his chin lightly there. "Show me how you hold it," he says.

The girl rests her fingers lightly on the strings, and then turns her head slightly to whisper into Alptraum's ear, "My name, by the way… is Kaira… "

"Having fun playing dress up, then?" Alptraum asks and grins fangily as he reaches around and places his hands on the back of hers, "Why the elf form? And the first problem I see is you're not arching your fingers enough on the frets. You're hitting too many strings at once when setting the chord. That will often cause it to sound flat. Arch them more, like this." And to demonstrate, he uses his fingers to pull hers in a bit, causing her knuckles to come up a bit more.

"I'm not used to having fingers like this," Kaira admits. "And as for the dress up, I'm preparing for… well, just preparing."

"I prefer you with scales, a tail, and lots of sharp teeth," Alptraum comments, "And if you want to know what I think, I think you're planning to infiltrate groups and pretend to be them to get dirt on what they're all up to. Now as for picking, you use just the tip of your finger or your fingernail. Like I said earlier, a nail pick would make this easier." Heh, he still seems to be keeping up his end of the agreement.

"I've seen ones that are worn on the finger, like a finger-guard," Kaira notes. "The picking is important then?" she asks. "Oh… and is there a special reason for your visit? I never got to really thank you for letting me come to the wedding."

"Yeah, those. Fake claws fror humans and other weak-nailed creatures," Alptraum says with a short bob of his head. "Would you be worried if I told you I had a dream of a remnant of Muriavan turning me into a zombie to show me his final moments before he was imprisoned?"

"Hmmmm," Kaira goes, leaning back against Alptraum a bit. "Should I be worried? What strange notions has it given you?"

"He alluded to needing to find someone to repair his broken heart. For what, I don't know since he's gone. Well, fused with me and likes to just mess with me in dreams, I guess. I also recently learned from Rosalind that, well, Melusine's heart is probably also fractured and she uses the Draco link to the land to keep herself alive. So, all that talk of wanting a new heart is probably for herself."

"Well, that much was… mostly obvious," Kaira notes. "I suppose you want to try to fix her then?"

"Keep her alive," Alptraum says, "Since she'll be without her link to Rosalind for about half a year now. Pure;y selfish reason there, she extends Rosalind's lifespan and I want Rosalind to live at least as long as I will now."

Kaira taps her nails on the dulcimer, between the strings. "Well, I can support that goal at least. What do you need?"

"Well, do you have any ideas on how to keep her alive without the link? If there any way I can act as a proxy for her in the meantime, for example?" Alptraum asks. "I was thinking if she'll let me examine her heart up close I might be able to use some of my Barsunala abilities to, well, bandage the cracks in it for a time. I have no idea if it will work, but its one thought I had."

"Hrrr," Kaira rumbles, sounding a bit more like her dragon-self when she does so. "I don't know a lot about how Shadow Dragons actually… work," she admits. "They seem to be a melding of flesh and spirit. Or… well, something and spirit. There aren't any here I could ask. Although some of the Unseelee types might know more."

"If their core is made of the heart of a steel dragon, would Vorgulremik or others of his kind know more?" Alptraum asks next, then actually starts nibbling on Kaira's current elfin ear.

Kaira blinks when she realizes she can't wiggle her ears in this form, and then blushes. "Well… yes, Vorgulremik would know more. He's… partly responsible for their creation. What are you doing?"

"Nibbling," Alptraum murmurs around the ear between his teeth, "So, He'll be one to visit and ask, then." The Eeee then pauses mid-nibble. "Uhm, you really don't know how a shadow dragon works?"

"I wasn't involved with inter-court issues among the fey," Kaira notes, waving a hand. "I was just after the Steel Dragons, and the Seelee Court fey are the ones who were willing to help."

"Then that implies you have no idea what the long term effects will be from me fusing with one, do you?" Alptraum has to ask. "Heck, an undead one!"

"Well, I don't know much about Eeee either, and you were already possessed by one spirit to begin with," Kaira points out. "You can't expect me to be an expert on everything… well… you can, but… I'm not… "

"Well, then I hope you're at least keeping an eye on my physically? Well, I'm more worried about changing personality wise than physically. I can deal with physical issues … probably. But I do not want to end up some rampaging beast! I'd prefer you obliterated me if it came to that," Alptraum notes.

"Well… there's only so much I can monitor," Kaira admits. "Anything beyond the gauntlet is fuzzy, without being more active. It's much easier to examine your spirit."

"Well, does my spirit seem okay?" Alptraum asks.

"Well, it isn't… disturbed," Kaira notes, swiveling side wise in the Eeee's lap so she can look at him more easily. "It's got a nice marbling texture to it, really. Not at all like the oil-and-water look you originally had… "

"Er, what?" Alptraum has to ask, blinking.

The elf tilts her head to one side, and narrows her eyes in thought. "Okay, so maybe it's not easy to describe. You're less homogenous and more swirly and cloudy, which… will probably make you homogenous again in time… "

"Does that mean I'm becoming more like the people in here then, if it's a slow meld with the remains of Muriavan?" Alptraum asks as he scratches his cheek.

"Well, the people in here are dead, so in that sense… no, you aren't becoming more like them," Kaira notes. "You have more in common with a dragon than an elf, other than that you seem to harbor a certain amount of lustful curiosity about the darker ones… "

"Well, they share my color pattern! Isn't it natural to want to share with them?" Alptraum asks with a goofy grin and a waggle of his brow. "And if I'm more in common with a dragon … why do you like me? I thought dragons hated each other… "

"We don't hate each other," Kaira claims. "We just… don't trust each other. But you're a special case. And I guess you don't find this form all that attractive, since it's not black with white hair. But I don't need to worry about the dark elves yet."

"I don't? Why do you think I was nibbling?" Alptraum points out, then licks slowly along her ear to make a point. "But as I did say earlier, scales are sexier."

"Oh?" Kaira asks coyly. "Well, I should reward you for letting me come and play. And this body is still… well… tingly and all. The skin is so much more soft and sensitive. I think it's probably ticklish too, so I should probably change back… "

"I'll show you my scales if you show me yours," Alptraum purrs in Kaira's left ear, "Unless you don't really like the black dragon I designed for you. Or … you want to find out why elves are popular… " Another nip of Kaira's ear, then he continues, "But, before any of that, the matter at hand! Sorry for the sidetrack. Vorgulremik. I want to visit him soon. It's time to 'rescue' him from his cave. Maybe he'll tell me something about Shadow Dragons. OTher than that, where can I find some of the Unseelie Court?"

"I did let Vorg out of his cave," Kaira notes. "As for the Unseelie… well, they're all over. Vorgulremik would know if there are any who might know more, assuming he ate them." She then gives Alptraum a look, and says, "As for scales… well… there is a tradition, I'm told, of male dragons ravishing young female elves… "

"My my, are you developing fantasies?" Alptraum asks the be-elfed Kaira. "Am I becoming a bad influence?"

"Becoming?" Kaira asks. "Haven't you always been?" She's grinning when she asks.

"I think I've gotten worse," Alptraum rumbles softly in her ear. It's an odd, shifting sort of rumble, at that. It doesn't help that given the sensitive nature of skin, she can feel his entire body … squirm behind her as the shadow-cloak is used to shape it. And when his hands tickle her stomach, well … the fur is melting down into layers of scale. "So … is the price to visit the land of the Steel Dragons that I must show you how an elf feels when ravished by a powerful dragon, hmm?" he teases. "All part of your practice at being an elf, I'm sure… "

"Well, it will take my mind off of your visiting him," Kaira admits, and even trembles a little. "Dragons are very competitive, you know, so of course I'm jealous of any time you spend with Vorgulremik… "

"It's not like I would get intimate with him," Alptraum remarks, then has to pause and think about that. He shudders and pushes that memory out of his mind. The last thing he needs is to start finding Vorgulremik attractive. So, he occupies himself by sliding his hands down Kaira's thin elfin arms where his talons curl firmly (but not painfully), around each of her wrists. "So … how rough do you want it?" he rumbles in her ear … and from Karia's vantage point, well, she can see scaled lips draw back from some very sharp looking teeth.

"Well… could you gently ravish me?" Kaira asks quietly. "I don't know how this body will react yet, really… "

"Ah … I see. The old slow seduction game, where the 'victim' is taught to appreciate her 'captor'.," Alptraum rumbles playfully. "I think that could be arranged. It'll only take, oh, a few hours," he continues as he firmly draws Kaira's arms back and holds them gently behind her. "Just tell me to stop if it becomes too much," he whispers in her pointed ear, "Otherwise … enjoy." And its about here Kaira learns the first part will be to see just how she reacts to gentle torment of Alptraum's currently flexible and mostly smooth tail. It's a good thing Mave isn't here right now or well … she might just be a bit jealous he's never done this with her!"