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~Oh, I do not doubt that in the least, Rizon,~ Seferia confirmed. ~I am certain I said this before, but I shall take your offer to baby-sit them. However, in the immediate, they are much too young to be without either myself or Sephiroth. Still, feel free to visit them at any point. You are welcome.~
Seferia looked up as Sephiroth returned to their dwelling. After giving him a welcoming grin, she bobbed her head before she turned her attention to the hatchlings. Her thoughts soon came to the topic of dung and waste, for she realized that they would not be born toilet-ready. She also was certain that it would take several months if not longer to get them trained to use the facilities. Thus, that meant that they needed to find diapers soon.
Sephiroth smirked back at Seferia occaisonally as he measured the door frame with rope, gathering the proper dimensions.
“I found somebody who can make a proper door, with proper hinges,” He said proudly. “A man and his wife have three children to feed. The guy owned a carpenting business before the Nemesis came and he’s been making tables and chairs and all kinds of things for the locals ever since. I said I’d trade them my giant collected grain rations jar, and he was only too happy to accept.”
He made the last measurement and then began to scribble on a piece of paperbark with some charcoal. “The man even suggested that I might be paying too much. He offered to give us a crib his family is no longer using to pay off the difference.”
“That sounds absolutely perfect, Sephiroth,” Seferia commented. “I’m glad that you found a useful trade for those grains. Hopefully, we won’t need to leave this post for a good long time. I’d hate to have your trade come to waste.”
Attempting a warm grin, Seferia nodded at Sephiroth before she moved closer to him. Once near enough, she wrapped her arms about his shoulder in order to hug him.
“Thank you for arranging that. You probably won’t be able to save grain like that soon, though,” the dragon lamented. “The hatchlings will need as much food as they can. I’ve already filled out the paperwork to give us more food rations.”
Sephiroth nodded his head. “I was hoping to trade my rations for something.” He glanced down at the paperbark, then back at Seferia again. “I was planning to trade them all for a couple of baby beds, but one they can sleep in together, as well as a door is good enough.”
“I’m tempted to save my grain again for something else,” He added quickly. “Though it would take me another month to get a good amount.”
Nodding, Seferia consented to Sephiroth’s plans. Still, she warned him, “Just remember, the hatchlings need to eat, so do you. So, don’t deprive either yourself or our hatchlings. As long as you do that, I don’t mind what you do with your rations.”
That said, Seferia released Sephiroth from her embrace. After walking back over to the desk, she gathered up the request forms.
“I shall leave you in charge of things here. It seems that you have the door and other matters in order. So, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to handle things here.”
Nodding to Sephiroth, she stepped out of the dwelling before she made her way to the command center.
Sephiroth lowered his head slightly when the hug was over, feeling slightly dissapointed. “I’m not going to trade away our rations for pointless things.” He said quickly. “Everybody barters. It is the only way we can do business and get things we need any more.”
“What if I said I could trade grain for steak?” He pondered. “There are people here who don’t eat their meat ration. The hatchlings could already trade their grain ration for more meat. It would be very valuable and more beneficial to them.”
Seferia groaned in slight annoyance, though she continued on to her way to the command center.
~Does no one actually listen to me?~ she responded. Her mood had turned sour because this was not the first time that Sephiroth had reacted badly to her advice. ~I said that I trust your judgment. I also said that as long as no one starves, what you do with your rations is fine. Please, listen before you become defensive.~
Sephiroth made a light huffy noise as he watched Seferia leave. *”I was not getting defensive. You made a comment and I explained the reasoning, that is all.”*
He didn’t want to go into it too much more, for he wasn’t interested or wanting to start a fight or prolong any bad feelings between them. So he decided to change the subject in the hopes that it would deflect rising tension.
*”Where did you go?”*
Seferia still was rather irritated that Sephiroth felt the need to elaborate to her concerning his choices with the grains. She had indicated trust and understanding with his decisions. She also felt that he was very responsible. Simply because she gave a few words of warning didn’t mean that she didn’t trust him. She thought he was mature enough to handle the advice. Still, as with Sephiroth, she didn’t want to hold an argument over the matter.
The black dragon blinked as Sephiroth asked her where she had gone. So, she promptly replied, not wanting to make him feel like she was hiding or avoiding him, ~I thought I mentioned that I needed to put in the paperwork to have additional rations allocated to our household. I am simply filing them away so that no one would claim that we are abusing our authority.~
Sephiroth nodded slowly, even though Seferia couldn’t see him doing it. *”Oh, I see… though you probably could abuse your authority. Heh.”*
*”Those hatchlings will probably try to demand more than their share of food, if they get as hungry as any other growing thing does…”* He smirked. *”One day we may even hold an eating contest.”*
Seferia paused in her steps for the briefest of moments. She had never heard of such a ridiculous notion. Eating contest? What- Why would anyone even think of that.
Quickly shaking her head, Seferia broke herself out of her stunned stupor. After releasing a sigh, she responded, ~I see… Eating contest.. That would be…~ -immature and crazy? ~… something to see.~
Sephiroth grinned, proud of himself. *”I knew you would find it interesting.”*
HIs attention was diverted to the male hatchling. The baby dragon male stumbled to his feet groggily, waking from his nap. He looked around clumsily before stumbling off the mat. He made a low uncomfortable chirping noise and emptied his bowels onto the floor, looking much happier afterwards.
Sephiroth screwed up his face in utter disgust. *”Seferia,”* He telepathically spoke with her, his mood urgent. *”I need you to get back here… right away…”*
Groaning at Sephiroth’s urgency, the black dragon shook her head. She knew that whatever was bothering him, it had something to do with a strong smell. Still, she had a few things of business to handle now that she was there at the command center.
~I will return there as soon as I can, Sephiroth,~ Seferia assured. ~However, it will take some time. I am certain that you are fully capable of handling things there until I return.~
Soon enough, Nizhoni also relieved herself. However, unlike her brother, she remained asleep on the mat that she had been set on.
Sephiroth backed up towards the door, glaring at the mess all over the mat and his nice floor now. He moved outside so he didn’t have to look at the excrement and placed his head in his hands, groaning.
“Great, now I’m going to need to barter for a damn shovel too…”
Seferia was still capable of feeling Sephiroth’s distress through their bond. Sighing, she tried to send him a soothing feeling via telepathy. Unfortunately, there were a few pieces of paperwork that were handed to her when she arrived, so she needed to attend to them before she could return to Sephiroth.
~Whatever it is that is bothering you, Sephiroth,~ she soothed, ~I am certain that you can handle. You are great and powerful. Not to mention, your mind is keen. There’s nothing you can’t handle.~
Sephiroth scowled openly now. *”Both of your offspring just relieved themselves on the floor of our living space. I think that is some cause for concern, personally.”*
He peered back into the house and snorted, moving away to try and find a shovel and a mop. If he left the mess there for too long, the smell would start to spread and permeate their posessions.
~I indicated that your problems were not a concern? I did not believe I said that at all,~ Seferia responded. ~Still, while it is a concern that should be taken care of, I am fully positive that you will be able to handle it. As I said before, you are fully capable and intelligent.~
Groaning, Seferia read over the small pile of paperwork that was handed to her. None of the issues seemed to be too complicated. So, the dragon was certain that she would be able to go through the pile within the hour.
Sephiroth muttered to himself, picking up the female hatchling, mostly because he didn’t want her sleeping in her own mess. He placed her off to the side in one of his towels, sighing. He rolled up the sleeping mat and took it outside, figuring he would have to wash it off and leave it out in the sun later.
He left the house to acquire a small shovel and pail, scowling as he scraped up the dung. It was even more unpleasant than he had first imagined. He wasn’t sorry when everything was clean again.
Nizhoni moaned as Sephiroth picked her up. Her eyes momentarily opened to stare up at him and she gave him a confused eeping sound. Once she was set back down again, she shuffled onto her hands and knees so that she could watch her father move about.
Just as Sephiroth finished removing the feces from the household, Seferia finally made it back. As she returned home, she glanced into the dwelling before she nodded in approval.
“I knew that you would have no problems handling it.”
Sephiroth got a bucket of hot water and began to scrub at the remaining marks on the ground, grumbling to himself when Seferia came in the door.
“I had no problems handling it, but it was still disgusting,” He complained. “We need to do something about that problem, else they will be doing it all over the house.”
Seferia nodded with understanding, she saw full reason why the children’s waste should not be on the floor. Not only would it be unpleasant for herself and Sephiroth, but it would also be unsightly and unhygienic.
“Yes, you are right about that much. The female should be of no issue, we’d need to find a diaper. However… Well, I suppose we can fabricate a diaper for the male as well”
Thinking this over for a few moments, Seferia eventually nodded before adding, “I have some spare sheets that you can use to try to make diapers, Sephiroth. If not, I will arrange for some to be made. They will not be disposable though.”
Sephiroth glared at the news. “We’re going to be doing a lot of laundry.”
“It’s also going to produce a large amount of odour,” He continued, frowning. “How are we going to hide it? The smell is going to make us very obvious indeed. And then others may complain if we use a lot of resources….”
He sighed, looking hopeless.
Seferia stared at Sephiroth for a good five minutes. At length, she calmly stated, “We can’t exactly tell the children to stop producing feces. It’s a natural function, Sephiroth.”
She shook her head, still bewildered at the number of complaints that Sephiroth is making. She then crosses her arms as she thinks over the situation for a bit. While she was aware that they would need to do a lot of laundry, they had little choice. Disposable diapers simply were not available. She also doubted that she’d be able to teach either of the hatchlings how to control their bowel movements for a good year.
Thus, she eventually continued on, “If it concerns you so much, the feces makes a good fertilizer. You could use it as a bargaining tool for those with attempted gardens.” As she spoke of gardens, she glanced toward the rear of their dwelling, where she had a mango tree that she had been magically growing. “Or, we could use it for our own.”
Sephiroth grumbled louder, folding his arms. “Fine,” He said quickly. “Three months of this, before I find a solution. That’s how much I will tolerate.”
He glanced at the doorframe, then back to his empty grain jar. “I could barter something else with one of the artisans by then, surely. But they don’t do work in advance of payment unless they are desperate.”
Seferia shrugged, for she had no arguments over Sephiroth’s terms. In fact, she found them to be reasonable.
“Very well. However, I doubt you’ll be able to find anything other than cloth diapers. For now, trade your work for their work and get someone to design diapers for the two hatchlings. I think that is reasonable, no? I’d say fourteen for each of them would also be reasonable.”
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