DF Study

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Dragon Flyz, which is owned by Gaumont Pictures. Only the plot is mine and I make no money from this.

Note: This happens before the actual series.

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Dram tilted his head slightly from where he sat on the couch, ignoring the workbook in his lap that he was supposed to be studying and tried to subtly look at the baby that Lady Iranda was holding without getting her attention. She herself was sitting in an armchair next to the living room's window, with the aforementioned infant held to her chest as they both soaked in the warm sunlight.

The young draman was hesitant to admit it, but he was curious about the tiny human. When Aaron and Iranda had welcomed Dram into their home all those years ago, Z'neth and Summit had been older children at seven and five years old respectively and little Apex herself had been an active toddler at three years old.

Before now, Dram had never even been near to a human baby, let alone seen one up close in person. But the manners he'd learned from his own parents back home in his village stuck with him and Dram knew it was just not done for someone who wasn't a blood relative to hold such a young child, let alone be so close in the first place.

But....things were different here, weren't they? After all, he'd seen Aaron and Iranda allow Z'neth, Summit and Apex to help care for baby Peak, even going so far as to allow the older children to have unsupervised care of the infant (though granted it'd never lasted longer than a few minutes if that)!

It might not seem like much to other humans, but to Dram, that was a shockingly high level of trust and responsibility being given to the other three. Well, maybe not so much for Apex, but definitely so for Z'neth and Summit. As he was starting to lose himself yet again in his thoughts of how much Airlandis differed from Old Earth, a warm voice brought him back to the present, "Would you like to hold him, Dram?"

Startled, the young draman quickly refocused his gaze onto Lady Iranda, who was looking back at him with a gentle, curious look on her pretty face. Lava, she must have caught him staring! Dram panicked and froze, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn't be insulting and that wouldn't get him tossed out of the house, despite Aaron's and Iranda's countless reassurances that they would never throw him out.

Apparently taking his silence as embarrassed admittance, Iranda got up carefully from the armchair and moved to sit next to Dram on the couch, all before he could protest. She smiled at him, "Hold out your arms."

Uncertain, he did as she said, completely convinced he was going to somehow hurt the baby and still mentally scrambling for an excuse to keep her from handing him the child. To his surprise though, Iranda didn't immediately hand him the infant but instead freed one of her own hands to pull a spare blanket off the back of the couch and covered Dram's arms and hands with it. He was confused about that until he realized that the thickness of the blanket would help ensure he didn't accidentally scratch the baby with his naturally sharp finger nails.

Iranda gave him another warm smile and brought her arm back so as to carefully hand Peak over to him, telling Dram gently, "Watch his head now. His neck isn't strong enough to hold it up just yet by himself."

Dram froze again, which let Iranda adjust his hold on the baby easily, even getting the young draman to hold the little infant close to his chest. Which of course sparked instant worry in Dram that he'd somehow crush the baby. Iranda badly stifled a giggle and gave Dram yet another smile, though this one was reassuring, "You're doing well Dram. Oh, look, he's watching you!"

Blinking, Dram looked down at the small, warm bundle he was holding. Sure enough, Peak's small blue eyes were half-open, staring up at Dram with an oddly intense gaze. Dram stared back, caught, and still more or less convinced that some disaster was about to happen. Little Peak shifted in his grip, his tiny face crumpling as he opened his mouth. Here it was, the baby was going to scream and it'd be something Dram had done somehow and then he'd get chased out and he'd have no where to go and...and...

The baby let out a surprisingly deep yawn, shifting again as if to stretch before he settled down in Dram's hold, closing his small mouth with a bubbly squeak. He stared up at Dram again, blinked once, then closed his little eyes and let out a sudden sigh before dropping straight back to sleep.

Dram stared at the infant for a long minute before he slowly looked up at Iranda, who was still smiling. She softly whispered to him, "See? Peak knows you're his big brother and he trusts you, Dram."

The young draman returned his gaze to the infant, nodding almost distractedly. Yes, he was the big brother, wasn't he? Of course, Aaron and Iranda had told him that before, when they'd first accepted him into their home and lives alongside their own children and they'd also told him that again countless times up to this point. But somehow, hearing it again now, in this situation, the words had a kind of weight and certainty to them that they hadn't had before.

Dram caught sight of some movement to the side and looked up to see Iranda reaching to take the baby back from him. He hesitated and to his surprise, drew back from her, still holding Peak carefully to his chest, "Can't I hold him a little longer?"

Lady Iranda looked surprised but in a good way. Her smile came back and she nodded to him, "Certainly."

She sat back on the couch, watching the pair quietly through kind eyes. Dram looked back down at the baby, who was sleeping so peacefully against his shoulder. The young draman smiled to himself, finally feeling a sense of relaxation that he hadn't had in months.

This was surprisingly nice, and warm too. In fact it....it felt like family, a sense he didn't think he'd ever have again.

And this time, he wasn't going to let it go, not without a fight.