Arboretum of Artemis. (Animal RP).

The operator of the experiment soon learned that wood didn't interest him. He then moved on to a hollow log. "Log." He crawled inside and went to sleep, Toronto of this new game rather quickly. He was unconvinced.

It was no use, the lights were just enticing. Returning to her natural state, she crawled out towards the humans in the doorway, sitting down like a cat would. Her spines remained raised however, showing them she was prepared to run at the slightest hint of deception.

The biologists were pleased. "now just follow us to the lab." They walked through a grey hallway and towards the lab, where Klik had figured out the idea of log. That in no way meant he could pronounce it, however.

She followed nervously, picking up her pace as she scented 'the friend'. Jumping up onto an accompanying bench, she pressed her paw against the glass, nudging it with her forehead. He seemed alright for the most part, perhaps her choice was not so bad after all.

He looked at the friendly strange-fish-lizard. "Fish!" He labelled her as the closest describable creature to her he could think of, seeing few similarities between her and a log. The speakers chided "No, dragon."

She flicked her head at the humans. Dragon, a rather poor, generic term for her kind. She chose not to complain, scratching lightly at the wall in front of her. Forehead met glass, flattening her spines to allow her to get closer. "Friend."

Klik tilted his head. "Friend?" He was imitating the word, thinking it a moniker for the entire species. He then repeated the speaker. "Froend dragon." He was learning quickly, possibly due to his alpha rank on his own planet.

She shook her head on the glass, tapping a claw at him. "Friend." She didn't know if he'd work it out. Perhaps if she had something to scratch in as a way of demonstrating. No, it was doubtful they'd allow that. She released her pose on the glass and walked around for a moment to think.

Hmmm... She had pointed at him when's saying "Froend." Would that mean it was a form of title? Or was it a name for his species? Then, the screen showed two people talking. "Friend." The speakers were talking again.

She slumped her head in frustration. How could she demonstrate? It occured to her that there wasn't really a way through glass. Taking notice of the video, she resumed her pressing against the wall to try and reach him, as if it would suddenly turn to water and allow to her pass.

He ha come up with an explanation. Friend was a title used to describe someone you enjoy being around. He tapped the glass with one of his nubby legs. "Friend." He hoped he had gotten the concept correct.

Her smile grew wide as she pawed at the glass again. He seemed to be catching on, hearing him speak the word made her gleeful. Oh, but why did they keep her out here and him in there? She curled around and lay down beside the tank, keeping her attention on him.

He picked up the fish again. "Fish!" His friend seemed to like knowing he was learning. The biologists placed something new in. It flashed on screen, and was named by the speaker. "Ball." The object was intriguing.

She watched as he picked up the fish. Berries were her favourite food, fish didn't have the sweetness the red beads brought. The ball however made her sit up. An object to play with. Playtime... Her pining at the glass grew intense as her desire to play with the ball took over.

The caretaker for the experiment lifted him out of the tank along with the ball. He rolled the ball over to his friend, seeing how she watched it. "Baw," he attempted to say. He tried again, with similar results.

She pounced on the ball, rolling onto her side before rolling it softly back towards him. "Ball." She rolled back over and stretched out her wings once more. It was playfulness like he could give that she missed sorely back with the others. Tyriia... how will she react to knowing I defied her completely...

He bumped the ball back with his snout, before repeating "ball." That was the bouncy sphere. His new friend seemed troubled. He lumbered over to her, saying "Friend." He lacked the vocabulary to say much else.

She shook the thought away, smiling once more. Getting to her feet, she folded her wings back up. "Lyea." She placed her paw on her chest as she said it. Hopefully he'd recognise it was different enough from other words to identify it as a name.

Of course, there were also individual names. He repeated his friend's name, and then said his own. "Klik." His name sounded simple and tribal compared to hers. The biologists were overjoyed.

She giggled as she spoke his name. "Klik." Looking around for a moment, she picked up a long object and pressed the tip into the bench. It made a similar sound. She recognised it better from the sound of seeds popping from larger fruits being chewed. Playfully she pressed the object on Klik's nose so it made the same sound.

He started a bit at being poked. He grabbed hold of the stick and entered a tug of war. Meanwhile, they were observed by cameras. "Stick" the speaker said. He paid no attention to the speaker. He was busy.

She waved her arms from side to side as he tugged on the 'stick'. She often did this with Vei when she grabbed onto a real stick, it was a lot of fun to watch how she struggled to claim a simple object. Klik was no different, apart from the fact that it was much more evenly matched.

He was having a lot of fun, before he let the stock down and matter-of-factly said stick. The biologists came in. "You two can go, jut try and teach him." They were lead down the hall and out the door, which shut behind them.

She looked at Klik for a long while. They were free again. She walked over to him slowly and nudged his side with her forehead. "Friend." It was still night, fortunately that was good for large animals. Those who hunted by night relied solely on the smaller critters.

He nudged her back. "Friend." He then swam back to his hollow log to sleep. He could learn more in the day, when it was warm. Cold was bad for him, seeing as he was cold blooded. He sat in a murky old burrow.