[Courtship] Apparition x Carnage

Carnage had never been particularly interested in looking impressive for the sake of looking impressive. Most of the things he collected had a purpose, even if that purpose was sometimes simply that he liked them. He liked shiny things, interesting things, things that looked out of place, and especially things that someone else had probably thought were worth keeping. A broken chain, a piece of colored glass, a brass buckle, an old ring, scraps of fabric, little bits of metal, anything he could carry back to the shop eventually found its way into his nest. Usually, he would simply add his newest discoveries to the growing collection and return to his usual lazy position among them, but today he had a different idea.

Apparition was nearby.

The colossal dragon remained in the water, their enormous body disappearing beneath the surface where the depths were more comfortable than the shore. Carnage had noticed them lingering there and, after watching them for a while with his enormous eyes, decided that perhaps his collection deserved to be seen. Not just the collection itself, either. He wanted Apparition to see what he had managed to find.

So Carnage got to work.

It took him considerably longer than it would have taken a larger dragon, mostly because he had to drag and carry everything himself. One by one, he selected his favorites from his nest. A long strand of tarnished beads was carefully looped around his neck, hanging loosely against his dark scales. A few smaller chains were draped across his back, their metal catching the light whenever he moved. A strip of faded red cloth was wrapped around one of his horns, while another piece of fabric was tucked beneath the straps of his wings. He added a collection of mismatched rings around the ends of his claws, although several were much too large and slipped around whenever he moved.

Carnage seemed quite pleased with himself.

There was something almost comical about the tiny dragon standing there beneath the weight of his collection. The jewelry didn't match, the cloth was worn and faded, and several of the pieces were clearly bits of discarded junk rather than anything that could reasonably be called valuable. Yet Carnage carried himself with the unmistakable confidence of someone who had just put on the finest treasures in the world.

He made his way toward the water.

The closer he got, the more deliberately he moved, making sure every piece of metal caught the light. He turned slightly from side to side, giving Apparition an opportunity to see the chains hanging from his back. Then he lowered his head so the beads around his neck shifted and clinked softly against one another. His enormous eyes remained fixed on the colossal dragon, clearly waiting to see if they had noticed.

Apparently, they had.

Apparition's attention settled on him.

Carnage immediately became a little more animated. He paced along the shoreline, showing off each piece individually as though conducting an important presentation. The brass buckle was held up proudly, followed by a small collection of polished stones he had tucked into the folds of the cloth. He even managed to produce an old metal pendant from somewhere beneath one of his wings, holding it up for inspection before placing it carefully around his neck with the rest of the jewelry.

He wasn't simply wearing his treasures anymore.

He was showing them off.

For once, Carnage's usual laziness had completely disappeared. He darted back and forth along the shore, occasionally stopping to make sure Apparition was still watching before continuing his little display. The tiny dragon clearly wanted the colossal creature to understand that every single piece had been found by him, collected by him, and brought together because he had decided it was worth keeping.

Eventually, Carnage settled down at the water's edge, his collection scattered around him and his various trinkets still hanging from his body. He looked toward Apparition with an expectant tilt of his head, his tail curling neatly around his feet.

There was no grand treasure among his possessions. Nothing particularly valuable, nothing that could compare to the immense wonders hidden beneath the water where Apparition lived. But Carnage didn't seem concerned about that.

These were his treasures.

And he had chosen to show them to Apparition.