Aphra's children were certainly a unique combination of traits. Most of them had inherited feathers and a few other traits from Aphra, although not all of them had inherited the slime evidently present on their father. Oleander was probably the most balanced mesh of them all, considering her mix of Aphra's feathers and her exceedingly slimey exterior. It honestly made Arvid wonder how her mother would treat her – would she be too disgusted to look at Oleander in any kind of positive light, or would she glad to see her own traits reflected in the child? It was interesting to think about, since the dire wolf considered Aphra vain enough to like one of her kids more just because they looked more like her.

The canine had actually been pondering this as he watched Oleander that day, from afar. He had been having lunch, hunched over a half-eaten rabbit as he watched the young dragon amble around camp. He hadn't been watching for very long, and hadn't planned to watch for much longer, considering the hatchlings weren't especially interesting in this phase. However, his attention had been grabbed once more when Oleander leaped into the air, spreading her feathered wings and evidently attempting to fly. Her attempt quickly failed, though, causing Arvid to wince as he watched her collide roughly with the ground below. He supposed failing was part of the learning process, but he couldn't imagine that had felt very good.

Getting up to his paws and abandoning his lunch for the moment, he made his way over, head tilted to one side. He sat down nearby, fluffy tail settling over his paws before he spoke, "Oleander... I saw what happened. I take it that flying is a bit more difficult than you anticipated?" The boy wondered, silently, if he could somehow trick Aphra into actually teaching the girl something about flying. After all, it wasn't as if he could really offer any assistance – it wasn't as if he was planning on sprouting wings anytime soon.

"they flip the siren, hit the lights" ✭ ── Rough starts in life. Something he should title his autobiography.

Granted, Angel had no wings, ironically, and he was not flying anytime soon. Nor had he given much interest in the idea of the new hatchlings flying, at least until Oleander made her attempt and slime went soaring right onto his nose. Right, the kids were covered in bloody slime. Minus one, of course, which he wouldn’t say out loud but thanked the gods for a saving grace in the clutch. Scrunching up his face and rubbing the slime off, Angel squinted at the group that was slowly gathering around the dragonlet and her failed flying attempt. There was a frown, then a small sigh as it dissipated. It wasn’t her fault she was...slimy, and any curiosity about flying was natural for a child with wings, no? ”Maybe it would help if you carefully watched the birds.” Angel suggested, wondering briefly if he could find a bird later to both study and demonstrate his point. Maybe even study one of the dragons, when they grew, should any of them stay and allow him to do so. ”They have a very specific way of moving their wings, maybe dragons do the same.”

The comments about Aphra making flight look easy certainly did make sense. She had the advantage of seniority and natural instincts on her side, and while he was sure her children had those same instincts, they didn't quite have the physicality to make use of them just yet. He was about to comment on that when Sojourn approached, causing him to pause and glance over. A soft snort left him at her little joke, and it wasn't long before he was nodding along, saying simply, "Sojourn is right – I've only been studying dragons for a little while, but it makes sense that flying would be natural for you. All you need is some more practice. Although... it might be a good idea to put something soft where you might land before trying again. You don't want to break bones or bruise yourself so badly that you end up crippling your abilities even more." Maybe he could make something like a nest for them to practice above? It certainly wouldn't be all that hard. He could probably gather a few pillows from vacant houses, maybe some blankets and some rocks to keep it all in place... it would make the perfect landing pad.