Switching Jobs

"Alright my favor is to let Jasper and Will take care of the dragons tomorrow, and you do their work."

I crooked my head. "I am sure between the two of them, and some instructions they could care for the hatchlings for a day, and I know Jasper will be excited; but how does that benefit you?" I asked. I hoped he would rethink his idea after hearing my logic.

"Well you thanked me for our work, but if you had the slightest idea on how much we actually did, I feel like you would appreciate us more. Also Jasper is small so hard work tires him out quickly, so the time with the dragons will make him happy." Bill explained. I knew he was right, I really didn't know how much they did for me, and for how frustrated Bill got when I made a request, it must be difficult.

"Okay," I said, "sounds reasonable. I will make a list of instructions for the boys, and I will wear some clothes that I don't mind dirtying." I got up and got a pen and some paper from the kitchen, and began writing detailed instructions for taking care of the dragons. Bill had fallen asleep on the couch, and I decided that he could go home when he decided to wake up. I held the instructions in my hands and took the elevator to the den. I came out of the elevator and saw the hatchlings playing. They were wrestling, practicing the skills they would need as adults, and Valorous was doing a stealth mission of guard duty. He had only his head above water sitting in the pool. The second they saw me they came to me. I sat down to where they could reach me, and they began to climb onto me. "Okay guys, tomorrow is going to be interesting. I am going to do some human work with Bill. Jasper and Will will take care of you." They continued playing and cuddling seeming to not understand what I said. Callalilly nodded her head. I stroked her frill which was folded against her body. "Well at least someone was listening." I said. I put the written instructions on the fridge. and took meat out of the freezer, and put it in the fridge. The boys could use this tomorrow. It wasn't time to feed the hatchlings yet, so I sat with them and helped them train. I had found an old toy in the cabinet with the VHS tapes, so I played with Switch. She would use her tail to whip it, I would move it around so she would learn about aiming and timing. I left the stuffed toy on the ground to the mercy of Switch. I turned and gathered Reticent and Blithesome. "Okay guys you need to work on your mist, vapor, and steam defenses. I sat them by the pool, and tried to coax them into practicing. Of course I had no idea on how to teach a dragon to blow mist, but I could try. Coruscant came over and blew icy air, in attempt to show the little Gull Wings. Surprisingly it worked. I guess blowing frost and mist was fairly similar. I was so greatful that Coruscant was so smart, the Gull Wings, or more accurately the Gull Wings and I, would be lost without her. I emptied a down pillow into a clear box, and put Vainglorious in it. He had to figure out how to change his feather color to mix in with other birds. This was something only he could teach himself. He was having trouble with it, which resulted in a broken ego dragon tantrum. He was hissing, fluffing his feathers, screeching, and snapping at any hatching that tried to comfort him. I picked him up by his tail. He wriggled and squirmed and squeaked, feigning pain. "Oh stop that you little liar, I know this doesn't hurt." He quieted down and stopped squirming, though I could still hear grumbles of frustration from him. I put him down in front of my sitting body. "This is not how a proper dragon behaves. No one will look up to you or even be envious of your looks, if you have a rotten attitude." I said sternly. He lowered his head and stopped grumbling. I knew that if I said no one would be envious of him that that would be all of the motivation he would need. His very name pointed out how Vain he was, and it was given accurately. With no future fans, he would lose a sense of self. which is a big blow for a five day old dragon. I placed him back in the box of fluffy brown and white feathers once again, and gave him a few encouraging words, before working with the next hatchling

"Okay Callalilly," She stood on her favorite rock posing as a flower. "Here comes an eastward wind." I said, then blew onto the little dragon. She began to shake like a flower in the wind, but she swayed in the wrong direction, and wasn't as fluid as she needed to be. "You are doing better, but you still haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I took a break after becoming lightheaded from blowing at Callalilly to pretend to be the wind. I looked at Somnolent who was lazing on the nest. "I am glad all of your defenses will come naturally." He made a purring noise and looked at me. I saw Valorous, he was determined to be more than life had planned to for him, but in this moment, I was glad I didn't have any lessons to work on with him. Nature intended for him to lay in rivers and creeks, and eat passing by fish. In a week I would begin testing to see if they could control their own body temperatures yet. I could use Coruscant to test if the others could handle the cold, and I could use the ever hot nest to see if Coruscant could handle heat. I continued this play training until it was time to feed them dinner. I cut up their meat put them in cupcake wrappers and served them up. Callalilly ran to my feet so I could put her in the cricket bin. As they ate I emptied the kiddie pool into the large sink, washed it and refilled it. I put the Switch's toy and the box of feathers on top of the fridge. I heard a screech signaling that Callalilly was done with her dinner. The others finished in suit. I cleaned up their dishes, then their excrement, and finally they were asleep. I curled onto the cushions I had set up for myself, and I began to fall asleep when four little wings hit my face. I opened my eyes to see Reticent get comfortable in my loose hair. I smiled and blissfully fell asleep. The next morning I woke up with a purpose. today was the day. I sat up on my cushions, and waited for Will and Jasper to take charge. If I left without giving the hatchlings breakfast, there would be Hell to pay. So instead I sat quietly as to not wake up the dragons. I held Reticent who had fallen asleep in my hair, and was now awake. There was no way we would switch jobs and the boys would get away with skipping breakfast. My job was hard too, I just made it look easy. Soon Will came down the elevator, then soon after, Jasper followed. I put Reticent in the nest with the others and stood up "Well boys instructions are on the fridge, there is pre-thawed meat and fish in the fridge, enjoy yourselves." I said. Jasper had a big smile on his face which dissapeared when he saw the devilish smile plastered across my face.

I got in the elevator, just as the doors were closing all of the dragons were screeching for their late breakfast. "Oh and boys," I had stopped the elevator, "If any of my babies have so much as a scratched scale when I get back... there will be hell to pay." I started the elevator and took pleasure in the horrified looks on their faces. Motherhood from those boys point of view was something fun. I was looking forward to seeing how they faired. I got out of the elevator smiling. Bill was standing tall in mud boots waiting for me at the top of the elevator.

"Ready to build some callouses on those little hands of yours?" Bill said. And just like that my first day as manual labor trainee started.