This...is probably a bit long and rambling to set up Misery's evening.))
Not long at all after the Misery's head had vanished into his thick fluff, another fluffy creature trotted into the dark cave, licking his lips happily after an evening's meal. Upon spotting the still sleeping Misery, a puddle of white fur against the deep grey stone, he gave a happy little chirp. Slinking forwards he crouched, twin tails wiggling with glee as he prepared to pounce. Misery's eye reappeared over his tail fluff, glaring, but the dragonet only grinned and lunged.
What followed was a complicated tangle of silver and copper fur as Misery tried to avoid Copper's playful attack, and Copper tried to scrabble up onto Misery's back to groom his ears and wake him up. It ended with Misery back on his side trying to shove his companion back off as Copper determinedly tried to wash his ears, and face as well for good measure, caroling happy greetings.
Sleepy sleepy, sun gone down. Night time, food time, out out out! Up up time now! No more sleeps!
With a grimace, Misery finally managed to shove the ball of fluff off of him and roll to his feet, using his tail to further push the overenthusiastic dragonet out of slobbering range. With one hand-like front paw he wiped his face off, scowling at the damp mess Copper had made of his fur. "It's winter you fool beast," he snapped, hunting up a scrap of cloth one of his books had come wrapped in and using it to further clean his fur. "There is no good reason to go out this early. Just because the sun is down hours earlier does not mean that I want to get up hours earlier."
Still grumbling, he dropped the scrap of cloth back into the pile of odds and ends he'd pulled it out of and stalked over to drink from the cold spring that ran through the small system of caves he had claimed as his own. No point in trying to go back to sleep, no matter what he'd said. The dragonet would only keep him awake. For a moment he eyed the steaming warm one further in, then decided that a bath would feel better after he had returned. He could warm up that way, and perhaps examine the etched stone he had traded for a few weeks ago. Water wouldn't hurt the stone the way it would a book. With a spine-popping stretch and a sigh he began picking his way to the well hidden cave entrance. Large ears lifted up, listening carefully to the echoes to help him avoid running into the walls in the poorly lit passage. Behind him he could hear the steady tap-tap-tap of Copper's claws on the stone as the dragonet cheerfully followed after him. Not for the first time he thought that the little beast must have better night vision than even the great owls that haunted the forest below, for Copper never seemed to misstep, no matter how dark the tunnel might be.
Finally the howl of the wind filled his ears and Misery flattened them back down alongside the thick, bushy crest of mane running down his neck. Lifting his head slightly he sniffed the breeze before finishing his approach to the outside. Cold, hints of ice, the promise of snow to come, but not likely to appear before dawn. Perfect. He planned to be back well before sunrise. He had grown too accustomed to dimly lit places in his youth. The day's light made his eyes ache and worsened his already irritable temper. With all the snow already on the ground this moonlit night was more than bright enough as far as he was concerned. But it did have the advantage of hiding his silvery white coat. In the warmer months he stood out bright and clear against the darkness of the mountain stone and the green-gold of the forest meadows.
With one final sniff and wary look around Misery slunk out of his cave. He expected...hoped anyways, that the chill and snow would keep travelers from these mountains, but it never did to let down your guard. Too many of those travelers, on seeing him, were prone to raising a huge fuss of one sort or another. More than one had tried to kill him for no reason that he could see, leading him to set noise traps on several of the surrounding trails to warn him of an attempted approach. Seeing and hearing no one for the moment he headed for a half frozen stream running down the side of the mountain. If he was lucky there might be some fish or snakes hibernating in reach. If not...at least the still moving water meant that he'd have less digging to do to find a bit of tasteless grass or bitter leaf to fill his stomach.
Copper frolicked along behind, darting off to chase snow swirls and figments of his imagination now and again. Misery ignored him, padding swiftly along as he planned his night. A bite to eat, then perhaps he'd go to his favorite lookout perch and see if there were any signs of traders or trespassers...the night was clear still other than some clouds on the horizon, so he could watch the stars for awhile before the moon rose too high and muted them...maybe go investigate that intriguing vein of opal he thought he'd felt just before the last storm before heading home to his warm spring? Yes, that sounded like a pleasant evening. So why did he feel so edgy?
((Oak, feel free to have Trickster find him at any point in the night, he'll be out and about for most of it.))
