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Living with a baby dragon was an interesting experience. Dragon Khadgar had many of his mage form’s personality traits including stubbornness, independence, a knack for getting into trouble and a sense of curiosity that overrode his ability to listen to simple instructions such as not to wander away or touch anything. The little dragon was into everything. Whenever Lothar put something on the floor, Khadgar would dive into it head first. Whenever Lothar put Khadgar on the floor, the little dragon was off, investigating anything and everything with far too much gusto and far too less care for his surroundings.
Packing any kind of bag was next to impossible as Khadgar would rummage through and pull out anything he could grab with his little front paws whenever Lothar turned away. Preparing for a simple day trip into Elwynn Forest took far too long as the Commander had to continually lift Khadgar out of his pack or off the clothing he was hoping to wear. The little dragon was entranced by Lothar’s shiny metallic armour but the warrior was reluctant to let him play with it because Khadgar could be a slobbery dragon. Lothar didn’t enjoy the idea of spending his afternoon repolishing his chest plate, but eventually relented as it seemed to be the only thing that could capture the small creature’s attention long enough for him to get his bag packed.
Things became easier after Lothar wrapped Khadgar’s cloak around him to make a sling in which he deposited the little squirming dragon. Khadgar seemed to quite enjoy being carried around like this, and settled down for their journey into the forest. By the time they had arrived at a nice spot for lunch Khadgar was fast asleep. The tiny dragon slept through all of lunch which actually made things easy for a change. Lothar’s lunchtimes were usually spent hand feeding the little whelp so that Khadgar wouldn’t take any bites out of whatever the Commander was eating.
Lothar leant back against a warm rock and took a moment to simply enjoy the tranquillity of Elwynn Forest. The limp form of Khadgar was sprawled out on his cloak beside Lothar, the little blue creature fast asleep. Lothar allowed himself a moment to daydream, but his reverie was soon broken by the feel of scrabbling claws on his legs. Khadgar had woken up with a chirrup and promptly crawled onto his lap, taking a brief moment to settle on his haunches before looking up at Lothar and trilling. Khadgar was hungry.
While the musical sound the dragon was making was rather melodious and cute, it also held an urgency that prompted Lothar into immediate action. Digging through his pack Lothar pulled out a snack he had brought along specifically for Khadgar and laid it out beside the whelp. Khadgar paused in his trilling to nose through the food briefly before looking back up at Lothar and crying once more. He wanted to be handfed.
Whether or not Khadgar could feed himself as a dragon, Lothar wasn’t entirely sure. He would try to gobble up anything tasty he found on someone’s plate if he could reach it, but usually spent his mealtimes opening his mouth and waiting for food to be presented to him. Taria had even bottle fed him once when he had been ill to make sure that he stayed well hydrated. She had wisely placed a warm blanket on her lap before setting the little dragon down, and had wrapped one arm around him while the other held one of Varian’s old bottles. Khadgar had suckled quite happily, kneading the blanket with his sharp claws like a kitten might do. Llane had been rather amused at the sight.
Varian had also had a turn at feeding Khadgar in his dragon form, although not officially. Sometimes the little whelp would hide under the dining table and bat at Lothar’s feet, but Varian would entice him over to his chair by sneaking food under the table. Llane was slightly nervous about letting Varian hold Khadgar as the little dragon didn’t seem to realise how sharp his teeth and claws were. He also had a habit of chewing on the hands and arms of any unsuspecting guard who though to try and pet the little rascal.
Lothar on the other hand had no qualms about letting his nephew play with Khadgar in his dragon form, provided they were supervised. Varian had beamed so brightly when the blue creature had been deposited onto his lap that his father didn’t have the heart to interfere. Khadgar had chirped up at Varian inquisitively, a happy expression in his swirling eyes before he placed his paws on Varian’s shirt and reached up to enthusiastically lick the young prince’s face. Varian didn’t object to the little pink tongue assaulting him, laughing away as Khadgar ensured both of the prince’s cheeks were nice and clean. Lothar chose not to intervene purely because Khadgar had given him the same treatment the previous day, and once the dragon was in a licky mood he wouldn’t stop until he had given the nearest person a thorough going over with his tongue. If he were to pick up the dragon from Varian now, Khadgar would simply lick him instead.
Khadgar was rarely in a foul mood as a dragon, and it was rather adorable to see him sulk. He would crawl under a table or other furniture and turn towards the wall, curling up with a sulky expression on his face that would cause anyone who saw it to stifle a chuckle. The worst he ever dished out in dragon form was mild hissing, tail lashing, harder biting that may actually have drawn blood if it hadn’t landed on Lothar’s leather sleeves, and rather adorable growling. While Lothar had backed away from Khadgar’s rather unimpressive display, Taria had no such fears for her fingers and showed her brother that gently cradling the angry creature was enough to soothe him. Then again Khadgar was always more well behaved around the Queen in both of his forms so perhaps it was just Taria’s gentle presence that calmed him.
Lothar was pulled out of his musing by Khadgar’s happy chirrup. Looking down at his lap where the dragon was currently resting, he couldn’t help but smile as Khadgar rolled onto his back and kicked his legs out, flailing them about gleefully and warbling as he gazed up lovingly at his caretaker. Stormwind’s Commander smiled back at the happy creature and gently rubbed his fingers over the soft blue stomach that was exposed, causing Khadgar to make a pleasant trilling sound in response. The little dragon continued to babble nonsense as he soaked up the attention, and Lothar had to admit that it was nice to spend the day relaxing in the sunshine with one of his dearest friends, even if that friend was currently in the form of a mischievous whelp.