It's Not The Raptor DNA

Chapter 4

Für God Saves the Star-Spangled Queen."

"Don't give me that shit, Echo. It's not like I get six people to clean my own home for me. I hope you know you're spoiled."

The raptor snapped a chirp in response as she nudged the bucket full of crushed, empty beer cans off the small porch. Owen sighed, and shook his head before giving a small smile at the incredibly proud-looking raptor. She had cleared his porch of the mess, and now she had room to drag all his blankets out of his home. Delta was more than willing to assist, and Owen allowed them to make their temporary nest; it wasn't like he used them in this hot, muggy weather.

Owen glanced to the side of him, and felt himself going soft as he watched his best girl gently swing in his hammock. She looked ready to fall asleep, and the slight, rhythmic movements of her tail kept the comfortable bed in motion.

It seems she still remembered the hammock from when she was still a little hatchling. She had always been the fussiest about going to bed, but a few minutes of rare cuddling in the hammock had always worked. Owen had to admit he had been sad when she had grown too aggressive to bring out of her paddock, but maybe now he could spend more time with them instead of just barking orders.

All he needed to see right now was baby Charlie pouncing on Blue, and then the world would be right again.

Owen sighed quietly before turning back to the waiting, white scales. She was carefully observing the small plot of land he called his own, and her large nose gently touched the string of lights hanging above his head; he was glad they provided adequate lighting in this dark night, but the full moon helped.

It was so odd to see her act so gentle, and calm. Even those blazing, crimson eyes had mellowed into an intelligent, quiet, and almost innocent fire. She didn't seem as dangerous at the moment as she continued to softly poke at the string of lights. Owen liked seeing the light's reflection in her eyes as she seemed to ponder. He wasn't sure what she was pondering, but she was clearly thinking.

"Like the lights?"

She gave a sideways glance at him before knocking on the invisible door.

'Yes.'

Owen couldn't help his small chuckle as he began to rummage through the unorganized mess of medical supplies piled onto his picnic table. It was everything he owned, and he was sure it wasn't enough to tend to everything on her. He could at least clean all the wounds on her, and maybe bind the most serious cuts.

He was actually amazed that she seemed to have very little wounds that caused him any alarm. He had only seen two slashes that would need stitches, and those weren't even very large. Her burns didn't appear to be very serious considering how close she was to that missile.

"I think I'll clean the wounds before we call it a night. I know the Veterinary Building has a room big enough to wash all this dirt off, and we'll have you good as new by noon tomorrow. That sound good to you?"

She glanced around the small area, her crimson eyes wandering over the snoozing Velociraptors, before turning her gaze back to him. She finally answered, 'Yes.'

Owen smiled at her before pulling a pair of shiny, silver tweezers from the pile. He showed them to her as he said, "I just want to pull that glass out before we do anything else; it'll hurt, but I don't have any morphine to help. I just really don't want to risk these getting infected."

The crimson eyes glanced at him warily, but he had no intent of lying to her. It probably wasn't going to hurt a lot, but he wanted to forewarn her before pulling all the little bits out. He needed her permission or it could end very badly for him. Her eyes flickered back to the tool in his hand, and he added, "I wouldn't do this if I thought you could wait till morning, but I really want to prevent infections, okay? I need your permission though, and we'll take breaks when it hurts too much. Is that fine with you?"