Rahar heard a sudden movement, and an odd metallic ringing. His eyes snapped open, a soft hiss breaking past his lips, until he caught the scent of fresh, beautiful water. His throat ached, his tongue feeling the dryness even more. Rahar’s growl cut off into a surprised huff when the human held out some circuler, metallic object. Even through the metallic scent, he could practically taste how cool and crisp the water inside was.

Amethyst hues carefully flickered up to the human, who watched him with something like concern in his eyes. He could smell the fear rolling off of the human in waves- but there was something kinder underneath all of the fear. He stared at the human’s mismatched hues for a second, and then snaked his tongue out towards the opening in the metal disc. His scales shivered as his tongue briefly touched the water. The sweet, sweet giver of life. Even for a fire dragon, water was essential. So long as the water didn’t get into his fire core, he needed it like any other living creature. Certainly he could go longer without it than most, like a desert dweller, but he still needed it to live.

The human made some kind of soft sigh, and then spoke in a shaky, but encouraging tongue. He tipped the metallic disc towards Rahar, some of the water trickling down. Hissing, Rahar bumped his snout forward, lapping at the fallen water with his rough tongue. Giving a low groan as the cool liquid poured into his mouth, Rahar continued to drink. A soft, rumbling sound arose in his chest, his scales rattling lightly as the water sated his thirst.

The human continued to let the water trickle at a safe pace, and Rahar did his best to not let a single drop fall. Already, he could feel some strength returning. The burning pain in his throat died away, easing the worst of the dryness. Weakly, Rahar lifted a paw, knocking it into the side of the metal container, a little squawk coming from him as a few drops splattered to the floor.

He blinked slowly, then, when a soft, musical sound filtered through the air. Eyes lifting slowly, Rahar saw a soft smile gracing the human’s face. A softer, gentler scent radiated from the human now, as he laughed. The human was laughing at him. He gave a soft little rumble, and bared his teeth at the human, huffing in indignation. He was a dragon prince, being laughed at by some human…who had been kind enough to give him water.

Sniffing lightly, Rahar glanced back down to the metal disc, and gave off a soft chirp. He was still thirsty, and could hear sloshing around in that container. There was still more water to be had, and the first step to recovery was drinking as much as he could. The human gave a soft laugh, and though it made Rahar’s scales rattle, it wasn’t an entirely unfortunate sound. Kind of pleasant, rally. Deciding to let the human off of the hook for now, Rahar leaned forward once again as the boy lowered the container, and let more water trickle out.

This time, he closed his eyes, letting his guard down around the harmless being before him. He had already judged this human to be no threat, and he didn’t even have a single weapon on him. The man was clearly larger than him, but seemed weak and squishy. Hardly a threat, even when weakened as he was. No, he would take the help that was offered, and recover. And then, he would find out what happened to him and the fate of his people.

As the water’s trickle slowly died down, Rahar felt even more of his strength returning. But along with the process of healing came fatigue. He felt his eyelids beginning to droop slightly as the last drip of water hit his tongue. He watched the human shake it a few more times, before nothing more came out. Rahar heaved a soft sigh, hearing unintelligible words leaving the man’s lips. He smelled and sounded of disappointment, and pity. A small breath of smoke puffed out from his snout. He didn’t need pity…but perhaps he did need more than a little help.

He kept his eyes open, glued to the human hovering above him, until he met the mismatched gaze. Something passed through his expression, and Rahar’s eyes slowly closed. Instincts told Rahar that he could trust this human, though he hardly knew him. A small voice whispered that he had been betrayed once before, but the cloud of fatigue slowly folded over him, wrapping him into a deep, healing slumber before he could rouse himself.