#drop 3

DECORATORS WE'RE EATING TODAY

Green eyes slowly blink, sluggish and slow, weary from the long day spent and wearier still at the next day to come.

Or rather, day that had already started from what the time brightly displayed from the phone I left to the side.

A yawn cracked open my jaws, deep and enough to have my ears pop. Grunting, a chance a little shift.

The raptor in my lap, a heavier by the day but warm weight gave a small snuffle of protest, but settled with a soft little sigh once a black paw gently ran along his spine. My heart squished for him, a tender ache that I let linger in the dark.

Blinking up from the sleeping scamp in my lap, I quietly check the egg that was to be his younger sibling.

The egg was a fragile one- as eggs tended to be- and more care was needed to be taken with this one than many others I'd had a hand in raising myself.

The tank was a clear box, and kept at a constant temperature. The room itself was dim during the daylight hours, and now properly dark as the sun had set. The only light came from the tank itself, simulating soft light dapples. A quiet room, soundproofed from the rest of the facility to best keep the egg calm and soothed. I still wasn't brave enough to leave it alone, not so close to hatching, but the room itself was also prepared for the event even if I hadn't refused to leave.

Soft mats and towels, the babyproofed room kept warm and cozy. A box with a nest inside, if the baby needed it, and further things that could go in the tank if the baby couldn't rest outside the water at all.

Food, of various things. I wasn't sure what exactly would hatch, after all, and still the little critter in my lap continued to surprise me even now with his wants. (Primarily and happily a carnivore, but more than happy to snack on whatever fruit I currently had in my hand.) But I was determined to be ready, health scanner kept well within reach.

The water ripples as the egg begins to rock. It starts gentle, slow. Each rock far apart, nearly imagined. Slowly, however, they grow closer and closer together. The movements are almost hesitant, but insistent regardless. Nervous, but determined.

Beneath the veil across it, the scales part and crack. A small clawed limb pokes through briefly, then withdraws. There's a long pause, and then it starts again, widening the hole until it's enough for a long, slim body to slide free.

The hatchling is nervous and hesitant looking, curling into the corner of the small tank, eyes staring up at you from beneath its tail.

Despite its nervousness, the hatchling seems to have imprinted on you.

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hey lovely @the-larry-way,

i have looked it up for you on the Wayback Machine and you can see all the prices there: Drop 1 - Aug 30, 2023 (capture is from Sep 6, 2023) Drop 2 - Nov 28, 2023 (capture is from same day) Drop 3 - July 29, 2024 (capture is from same day) Drop 4 - Feb 28, 2025 now online

28clothing