Geda's closest ties to the modern world was the unfortunate fact that he'd made his home near an air duct, and every once in a while something came banging and chortling through from the other side.
"Geda!" a voice shrill as a sonic blare screeched down from the artificial canopy.
Geda methodically tidied up the remnants of his meal, wrapping his leftovers with waxy leaves and twine binding. He just finished tying the last knot when a fury of purple stormed through his den entrance.
"Good evening, Gorve," said Geda.
"Evening?" Gorve barely paused for a breath. "Evening, sure. Time is so weird here. Have you heard?"
"That... the Refugium's time is odd? I... I suppose, but-"
"No!" Gorve bounded on her rear legs, reaching to grab Geda's head and force their eyes together. "Gem dragons. On Lantessama. There's a whole bunch of us heading that way. The directors are making a whole production of it."
"Oh," said Geda, plainly. He'd heard of Lantessama from before he lived on the Refugium. There were lots of worlds out in the Nexus, but he was quite content where he was. "Are you going?"
"Am I- Aren't you? They're our size and you've been going on about watching to raise a hatchling. This is perfect!"
"Our size?" That was tempting! Part of Geda's reluctance to stand at the Refugium was how large many of the dragons born here were. That myrmex clutch had seemed promising, with the little drones, but there was no guarantee that's what Geda would bond and he felt woefully unprepared to handle a queen. Still... "I didn't think I'd go off world for that. I like it here."
"I like it here too, but don't you want a vacation? See the universe a little bit? The Refugium is offering free room and board on their ship, eh?" Gorve nudged him with her tail fin.
"Will they even let you on board of an important ship like that?" Geda frowned.
Gorve was always getting up to mischief and had been personally banned from many Refguium establishments.
"As if they can keep me out." Gorve leapt around herself, fast and agile as a snake. "It'll be a wonderful adventure and I want a friend along with me."
"Do you intend to stand at the clutch?"
"Clutches," Gorve corrected. "And you bet your little wings I do. A little snaky dragon to help me bound around the air ducts? Absolutely. We'd be a perfect pair. Partners in crime and all that. Please say you'll come with me?"
Geda considered his options. If the Refugium was sending a plethora of candidates to Lantessama, it was likely that there would one day be a gem dragon clutch right here, at home, and Geda need never stray far from his little garden. He heard Lantessama was particularly beautiful and was once (or perhaps still?) home to a myriad of plant dragons, their sprouts carefully tended within a greenhouse on the isle. He would rather like to visit them, even if he didn't manage to bond a dragon.
And he wouldn't be alone. Gorve would be with him and could most (if not all) of the talking.
"When does the ship leave?" he asked.
Gorve whooped with joy, leaping into the air with a twist of her sinuous body. She landed as if she weighed nothing and pranced about Geda in a tight circle. "Not for a bit yet, plenty of time to get your things in order." She scrambled for an exit. "But not enough time for you to change your mind! I'll meet you on the ship."
"Don't get in trouble before then," Geda warned, but Gorve was already out of the bushes and invisible in the deep colors of the jungle.