Riel wandered closer to the other man and lifted his arms. They waved in the water, and his scales glimmered. He missed having his true body. His scales would have been even more breathtaking then, covering him whole as they had. "How do I float?" As a dragon it had never even crossed his mind to try. Before it was a matter of diving and sweeping out of the water. Floating above the surface like a duck had never crossed his mind.

Reichet settled down in the water, a faint smile growing on his face. He tilted back slowly until his upper body lay against the water. He left his legs under the water because he was tall enough to take up most of the pool and it really wasn't the point for him to float. "Just lay. That's the joy of it. You don't have to do a thing." The blue sky opened up above him, though a number of large clouds still peppered there sky from the earlier rain.

The dragon stared at Reichet with doubt. Him, float? Without wings? He shook his head. "I don't believe you." It was really too incredible. Besides, it felt ... good to worry about figuring out to swim, instead of thinking of that shadow. It had flown by. If he stared up at the sky again, the dragon was afraid to see even more clouds obscured by large leathery wings. He didn't want that. Didn't want to think that he might have led danger to the guardian's forest.

"It's not that incredible. People naturally float when they spread their surface area out, though I suppose a dragon may not float well. I have not seen that," Reichet said. He pulled himself up a second later and just as he did so, he thought he caught sight of something up in the sky. When he looked up though, he just saw the drift of a cloud. A squirrel set off a racket in a tree across the river, making Reichet's brow furrow. "Excuse me a second." He waded over to the bank and let the animal jump into his hand where he patted its spiked up fur. Something had the creature on edge, but he didn't understand. He didn't sense anything at all on his lands.

Dragons definitely didn't float well. They sank. Wings crumpled up and wet ... it wasn't pleasant to think about. Diving was different, it was a quick in and out motion so fast the water didn't even have time to cling to them. His kind of dragon didn't like water. For others it was different, but not for his. They weren't made for swimming. So it was with trepidation that Riel let himself lean back into the water, and lifted his legs from the ground. Immediately, he started sinking and flailing. Spluttering, the dragon found his feet again and stared at the water angrily.

The sound of splashing caught Reichet's attention again. He sighed, though he wore an amused smile as he swam back to the pool. He however still had the squirrel tucked under the hair on his shoulder where it could stay dry. The creature was quiet now and stayed hidden. Reichet sat down on a boulder at the edge of the pool. "You have to relax if you want to float. You won't bob on top of the water like a piece of wood, rather a bit lower. You've just got to trust the water that it won't let you sink too low."

He didn't trust the water at all. Riel did trust Reichet. So he tried again. After some flailing around, he settled down. Wonders of wonders, it worked! The dragon held his breath for a while, scared that any kind of movement would make him sink. Then he was forced to let it out, and still his head bobbed above the water without him having to move and inch.

The squirrel let out a series of squeaks and Reichet shushed it before letting out a laugh. "See, I told you floating was the easy thing. Doesn't that make you appreciate some things more?" he asked as he slipping into the water and lay on his back too. The squirrel crawled to his stomach with one last chide. "It's your fault for following me into the water," he muttered to it.

The dragon tilted his head just enough to see the squirrel perched atop Reichet. He snorted. "If you think this is easy, I would hate to see what you think is hard." He wriggled his fingers. Riel missed another shadow passing through the clouds, a pair of them. They were fleeing in the opposite direction, back the way they had come. Clouds obscured them, and soon the shadows were long gone. Riel was still floating, if only barely. His hair tangled in his horns, and he would have tried to untangle it all, except he was afraid he'd sink.

Reichet turned his head to look at Riel, one of his eyebrows raised. The squirrel had settled down now so he let it be. It wasn't unusual to have woodland creatures make a home somewhere on him. "Shall I start teaching you to really swim then?" he asked Riel. "Floating won't do you much good if you fall in somewhere not a tranquil as here. Come on, sit up. I'll show you how to move your arms and legs."

Water splashing across his lap, over his face, made Riel stand up again to try and gain his breath. He kept going under. He hated it. His heart beat too fast, and he just couldn't get his breathing to calm down. "I can't. I can't. I'll drown. I just can't!" The dragon leaned back, went backward, settled down on the river bank. The solid ground, the grass beneath his fingers, comforted him. He could trust the ground, like he had once trusted his wings.

Reichet sighed and flopped down on the riverbank next to Riel. The squirrel took off running as if from a hoard of wolves, making him chuckle. "You're real stubborn, you know? You're the one who wanted me to teach you to swim, and now you don't want to." It was hard for Reichet to imagine swimming as terrifying in any way. It was too natural to him, too much part of his body. "Maybe another day then?"

Swimming seemed like such an impossible thing. "A dragon's wings when too wet will drag us down and make us drown. They crumple up and become useless. It's hard to leave the fear of that happening behind. I know I don't have wings anymore ..." Riel sighed. "I know that. But staying out of the water is instinct." He glanced at the forest's guardian. "Taking this slowly seems entirely like the best option." At this point.

A dragon was like a bat then. Reichet mused on that but he decided it was a fear Riel could get over. After all, he did not have wings anymore. He had arms which could easily churn the waters and bend it to his will. "That's fine. It was fun to float in the water. Besides..." He glanced up at the sky. The clouds still hung over, but were becoming less distinct as the sky darkened and the sun lit under the undersides with a golden hue. "It's getting close to dark."

He looked at the sky with half closed eyes. It was true. The light blue skies were fading into darkness, and a star or two shone while the sun disappeared. "Where should I sleep?" The dragon looked to Reichet. This was the guardian's domain, the place he protected. Riel didn't dare settle down just anywhere. Mostly because he refused to intrude, and partially because he wanted so very much to not be alone. The company was so refreshing. The day had been a wonderful one in his books.

Reichet hesitated if only for a second. He crossed his arms and sighed as if caught in the throes of decision making. But the reality was, he already made up his mind as soon as Riel asked. "You can sleep wherever you wish. Who am I to say otherwise?" Reichet asked with a small huff of laughter. He was already starting to think of the dragon man as one of his creatures--those that lived in his domain and listened to him, but he otherwise had no real control over. "I do not have to sleep myself, although I may and do in times of trouble."

The dragon flopped to his stomach. There were too many places where he could lay down to rest. Up above was the ridge from which you could see the whole forest, all of Reichet's domain. There was the lake itself. No. That wouldn't work. It was Reichet's place, his and his love's.

He knew exactly where he wanted to sleep. The dragon crawled to the spirit's side, and curled up right there, leaning against Reichet. He wanted company. He didn't want to be alone anymore. It was the whole reason why he had been so very determined to remain in the forest. "Right here, by your side, will work. I hope it doesn't bother you." He twisted his head around to gaze up at the other male. It was hard to do when his back lay against the spirit, and he needed to look over his shoulder to get that look.

Reichet's eyes widened ever so slightly as he looked down at the dragon. This he did not expect. Still, he couldn't bring himself to deny Riel what he asked. How many little creatures preferred to sleep near him after all? Somehow this felt natural. "Very well," he said with the slightest of nods. "I shall watch over your sleep so go off to your dreams now. I shall be here in the morning still." He stared down at the dragon before patting his head and turning back to the river with a peaceful eye. This was a rather nice way for him to rest as well. It was nice to be around another.

Riel nodded and closed his eyes, laying his head upon his arms. He didn't expect Reichet's hand on his head, but found the gesture oddly comforting. It was easy to fall asleep, to let waves of unconsciousness sweep all his worries away. There were no nightmares to bother him either, only sweet dreams. Dreams he couldn't remember later when he woke.

Reichet may not have slept, but he closed his eyes and found his senses branching out to sync with his domain. His state resembled a trance, but one where he was aware of everything living and shifting. He monitored the state of things and it refreshed him to connect. He felt unrest in the eastern quarters of his domain, but nothing out of ordinary. He turned his attention back to the area near him and felt Riel wake. Blue eyes parting open again, a soft smile passed over his lips. "Are you awake?"

Sunlight. Warmth. The dragon rolled over and stretched languidly before fully opening his eyes. Scales glinted all over his body, silver flashed every time he moved. Riel grinned. "I am, yes."

He moved to his clothes and slipped them on with a sigh. It was chilly, the way mornings usually were. "Is there anything I could have for breakfast? I doubt you'd want me hunting anything in your forest." He half feared that would hurt his new friend.

Reichet watched, admiring the strange variety this dragon man brought to his oasis. When he heard the man's question, a half smile, half grimace twisted his pale lips. "Yes, I'd appreciate if you didn't eat my animals." They were like a part of him. For a second, he seized at the idea that anything living here could be consumed but it was a notion he pushed down. Of course the animals at his plants. It's why he nourished them to life to care for the entire web of life. Riel had to eat so Reichet just nodded his head. "If you'd care for some berries, roots, or nuts, I can gather them for you." He preferred to ask his plants himself for their sustenance to let someone else pick carelessly.

"That would be nice." He would have liked some meat. Would have loved it. The vegetation would have to do. It was a small price to pay for sanctuary. He glanced at the lake, the beautiful shining surface. It rippled. It shimmered. Then he looked at Reichet and found the same kind of emotions evoked. "Is there anything I could do for you, to repay your kindness?" Riel didn't like being in depth to anyone else.

Reichet stood and looked around though he had no need to search for food. He knew everything already so he glided to a towering bush and ran a hand along its branch as he whispered to the bark. The plant shuddered before five fat berries dropped out of it, given willingly. These he gathered and was about to move on for more food when Riel spoke. "No...there is nothing I am ever wanting for," he said after a pause. "I do appreciate your presence though. It is more than enough to have someone besides the birds to speak with." He was always more than happy to look after living things without asking a thing in return.

The dragon drifted behind hist host. He couldn't help but admire the river of hair flowing from Reichet's head. "Is that really all? I wish I could offer more then simple company." His hand found the other man's back, and rested there light as a butterfly's wings. Riel refused to wander far from Reichet. There was just something about the spirit that made him feel safe, and welcomed. That despite the fact that Reichet had tried his best to banish Riel from the forest when they had first met.