Name: Joshua Freehoun, no? okay okay dads Freeman Calhoun fine

Gender: Male, bisexual

Age/DOB: ~17, aged, 2029

Origin: Repurposed Earth, AAEC lab/Black Mesa

Family: fathers Gordon Freeman and Barney Calhoun, half-siblings Angel, Carl, Coral, Umber, Gareth, Raylene, Sage, Slate, Jade

Other: his dads are remarkably proud of him, and he tries to live up to their expectations **notably, Joshua is my stupid reference to the WayneRadioTV show Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware, Josh is a character that is mentioned once, and never again... but has become the focus of many comics and jokes since then. *note it's pronounced 'hoon' like spoon not like hound

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 145* Icarus treatment lightens his overall weight, he is lean and tall but still strong

Hair: dark reddish brown, wavy, and kept long in a tail, he will have salt and pepper in that hair by the time he's 25, but it won't ever get more grey than at the temples; note that the flitters he has often will pull his hair out of the scrunchy and 'hide' in it (hint: they're way too big to be hidden in any way)

Eyes: brightly green, a little tired at times, under happily quirky brows; does need minor corrective lenses and enjoys looking like dadGordon

Appearance: light creamy skin with freckles, generally has heavy stubble but doesn't keep a beard; has adopted the Icarus undergarment and layers with Black Mesa branding; has a quiet, deep, and most say sensual voice. He tends to smell of electronics and machinery, gunpowder or cleaning fluid, and his aura is hazel green cloudy with sparks of brighter green.

Genetic Abilities: he has a modest Vortal suite for communication purposes, his telepathy is best around 200 meters or less, and empathy which he can use to detect overall mood but not really specifics around 20 meters. Like dadGordon, he can detect and respond to Vortal auras and residual echoes, automatically seems to be able to react if there are dangers nearby. Virtually any event that could endanger his life triggers his senses and puts him on alert, and his reflexes speed up so much that time almost stands still - very similarly to how Geoff's battle reflexes act. While he cannot move more than a few meters in this state, he can easily dodge incoming bullet fire or other dangers. This also seems to occur when a disastrous outcome might happen during calculations or programming: should I add this line of code? no, that seems bad, let's not. His aim with thrown items is incredible, and does seem to be a 'power' more than mere practice or skill. He is overall a 'high level baseline' Vortal presence: he is easily seen by Vortigaunts and anyone with magical or other aura-seeing powers, and is exceptionally easy to communicate with telepathically. He does also seem to be quite strongly attractive to cats, headcrabs, and flitters - they tend to watch over him, even the predatory headcrabs only look for ways around him or for another target. Felines and flitters will obey him instinctually and if someone's flitter or dragon is looking for him they have no trouble at all locating him even if he's well hidden or far away. While not truly a Vortal ability, his intelligence and cleverness are very much part of his family line, as is his charm and easy wit.

Image Credits: Doll Divine HPmaker

Pets: Mars showed up with eggs for this young man the moment she realized that her blue and green flitters Pick and Poke had gotten busy and nested. On hatching, surprisingly, one was a big bronze, which Joshua named Crowbar, and the smaller blue Wrench. They are both well suited to their names, as Crowbar likes to jam himself into boxes or narrow areas, while Wrench almost always has some tool or other in his paws ready and waiting, regardless of whether it would be of any use to Josh...

Events or History: When it looked like the world wasn't going to hell in a handbasket, it was time for Barney and Gordon to truly show off their long-held romance. Melissa was thrilled to be able to finally get this kid out into the world, going so far as to surrogate him for the first half year of development. Given how much effort both Barney and Gordon put in to defeating the Combine, they were due for a lengthy vacation - which Keenan supplied in the form of a construct outside of time. There, they spent a good two, nearly three years raising their son (with regular visits from his relatives) and preparing him and themselves for their eventual return. Though it was work keeping everything somewhat secret, their Icarus-treated son was aged into a pre-teen on returning, and has proven to be a valuable companion to either of his dads. He can fix vehicles and devices with Gordon, and work through security codes and scout areas with Barney - but he also loves to just be his own person and hangs out with a good number of the 'younger' second-generation folks. He knows that people expect a lot from him. After all, both of his dads were vital, and that's a lot to live up to. But he also has his feet on the ground and his head kept firmly on his shoulders: he doesn't try to compare himself to either of them, rather he likes complementing their skill sets, with his own unique spin.

***

Joshua was among the few modern Rookery inhabitants that had waited a while before heading out to potentially find a dragon. He's also among the kids that happily referred to Keenan as 'uncle Vahh', as he was able to sense the Convocation man's energy before he actually arrived on site. In this instance: working on a generator with one of the Vorts that had come to live at the Rookery.

In fact, Joshua noticed Keenan before the Vort did; perhaps because he was the non-local version, and the Vortigaunt was from this Rookery dimension - and both of Joshua's parents were from elsewhere. That energy seemed to 'match', attract attention more quickly, than that of the other Lane. Joshua placed the wrench he was using carefully onto the towel under his knees, brushed his hands on that same towel, and nodded toward Gears the Vort, who gave his own slow four-eyed blink toward the Mystery.

"This one will continue the work without the Freehoun," the Vort said, and Keenan inwardly chuckled at the use of the name that Joshua's dads thought was just silly. "It shall be finished within the hour."

Keenan waited until the boy was satisfied with his own cleanliness; he wasn't fastidious but he certainly didn't care for leaving a mess behind. When it looked like Joshua was ready to dedicate more attention to him, Keenan indicated a door - which was obvious to Josh as a portal to another dimension - and they stepped through it. The doorway was visibly just 'a door' in that vehicle bay, to anyone else. But to Joshua and those with the Vortal senses to detect it, a brilliant outline appeared on it, along with a 'handle' in a teal shade that matched Keenan's aura. Josh remembered Gordon tell him how he first learned to control and detect such auras: and the doorways that Lane made were the things he used as training. Josh didn't yet have his own 'Vortal keys' but then he also didn't seem to need them just yet.

But that might change, Josh thought, as they entered a dimension he was not familiar with. It wasn't one of Lane's constructed locations, he was very well familiar with those. It didn't have any of Lane's voush'lih on it, his distinctive aura that said 'this is mine'. No, this was a hewn location, underground, and the first thing that struck Josh was that the smell was quite different than he had ever detected. Both of the flitters on his shoulders stuck their wings down tightly, wary but not angry, in response to the location. They didn't reflect Joshua's moods so much as their own, but he too was a little wary - less so because it was Keenan showing the place off, and not some randomly appearing portal.

The location wasn't really brightly lit, but his eyes adjusted quickly. Looked like... hand-carved walls? Partly natural, with some structural supports here and there of stone as well as metal and wood - it was a lot like Black Mesa's interior, honestly. He ran his fingers along one wall, it was cool to the touch, it was stone - just stone; if it had been anything else, he would know. Crowbar was the first of the flits to slink out from under the young man's ponytail. Not that his long tail was ever cloaked by the hair, Joshua often wandered around the Rookery with a clump of bronze and blue wings and tails, the flitters heads 'hidden' in his hair. Crowbar however 'bravely' peeked out and finally moved himself back to his typical spot on Josh's left shoulder, chittering and encouraging Wrench to do the same on his right. They added soft cooing commentary to any turn or corner.

Or, momentarily, they would startle and hastily dive their way back into his now-messy nest of hair, because someone came around the corner toward him first...

"ow! guys stop it," Josh hissed, quietly. They did not stop scrambling around his neck and shoulders until both of them had a shawl of his red-brown hair to hide behind. Their eyes, yellow-colored, stared intently at the woman who strode toward them. Joshua was busy cringing at their little claws digging into his skin, and missed the smirking chuckle of his elder.

"Ah, there you are," Keenan said, bowing slightly to the woman nearby. "As promised, I knew I could find the right one for this... event." Keenan glanced at the young man, who now was squirming and just shy of doing a trotting dance in the attempt to get Wrench to stop actively crawling under the shirt he wore. "I... am no search rider," the Convocation man said quietly, "but I think you'll find he will fit right in... somehow."

"That will be up to the dragons," the Weyrwoman said with a quirk-lipped smile. "Shall we see if they approve?"

Keenan licked his thin lips, glanced in Josh's direction, and returned his turquoise eyes to the Weyrwoman. "Maybe in a bit, he's... having a moment." The boy's scuffle with his flitters had turned him around, grunting and making little noises that included a brief Vortigese curse and hollow threats of no dinner for either of them...

***

The ease with which Joshua adapted to any location was both surprising and satisfying. Anyone could tell that he just 'fit' wherever he went. He leaned against the wall of the dorm, and drew in a sigh. Several couples had arrived whlie he was at Istabitha, and it was clear they would be attending this little clutch too. When he introduced himself to anyone, it wasn't pushy, but also it wasn't meant to ingratiate himself - he made himself known, chatted if there was anything clearly in common, and gave a happy wave and smile when parting. Whether that was the influence of dadBarney's training as a security guard, or just his own method, who could say? But in those moments of conversation, Joshua shone if he was given half a chance.

He saw the eyes of the dragons nearby, watching him carefully, when he was nearer the eggs on the sands. He deferred to their judgement almost as though they were a Vortigaunt. "I'll be careful, promise," he said, not loudly. He looked at the parents of the nest, who peered with their strangely faceted eyes changing colors from reds and oranges to blues and greens. There weren't many dragons like them in the Rookery.

Though, on reflection, Keenan's dragon did have those same kind of eyes? Of all the things that the Rookery had, an extensive knowledge of these 'old world' creatures (whatever that term meant, it was all new to them!) was not among them. All the dragons in the Rookery had different features: some had big crests and horns and scales, others multiple wings, very few were 'plain' and unadorned like these gathered over the hatching sands at Istabitha. But then, Joshua smiled to himself, that was what made them special. No-frills dragons were hard to find at Black Mesa!

Joshua stepped over to the sands, and could feel so much that his eyes didn't see. While not exactly 'Vortal', and definitely not 'magical', there were energies at work in these eggs: minds developing, connections forming. Was a connection fit for him? He wasn't going to force any, he had been studying up while dormed here. If a dragon wanted to come to him, he would eagerly accept that. Both his dads were riders, though honestly neither Barney nor Gordon typically 'rode' theirs. Would it be one, like dadBarney? or more than one, dadGordon had two, though truth be told one of them was more attached to the dragon than the man. (And really could Barney's cat-bird-daemon dragon be really counted as a 'dragon'? Or did they all just call everything that befriended folks in the Rookery 'dragons'?)

Maybe it would run in the family, maybe there would be a dragon just right for him, and Joshua would do his level best to be the right rider for that dragon.

***

The afternoon of the hatching was otherwise unremarkable, and when the call went out, Josh was in the middle of an exam about dragon hide and its care. Though his heart raced, he tempered his excitement: he didn't want to look like a squealing kid! On the inside, he was absolutely a squealing kid. He wasn't the first one to reach the sands, but most of the group of teens and adults got there after him. He saw as the guests and onlookers were being hastily brought in - there were his dads, and he waved to them with an excited hop. Wrench and Crowbar were absolutely determined to remain on his person during this, what could he possibly do about it anyway? They were stuck on him like a hopper mine. (Wasn't that the name of one of their siblings Mars handed out got called?)

It was very exciting, and he knew that there were people local to this place that had put bets together about what might come from the eggs. As more the engineer type and not the geneticist sort, Josh didn't really know what to think about that. They'd be dragons. That was good enough for him. He wasn't the first to bond, or Impress, or whatever they did here. There were several before him, in fact. But then three eggs crashed into each other, sticky goo flying here and there. Plaintive cries were heard, and candidates scrabbled to help: but it was two smaller winged forms that arrived first, a blue and bronze firelizard tugging and pulling at shards of egg shells.

Naeodin rose from her feet. “Are they alright?” It was always her first instinct, wasn't it, to be sure of the safety of her charges.

Voices called out in the affirmative. Bruised, nicked, but the three hatchlings seemed fine.

Crowbar and Wrench continued to fuss around a pale hatchling, a soft shade of cream, with the barest hints of orange and darker colors clouding his hide. The hatchling spread its wings, displaying smoky gray undersails- he waited patiently until the two firelizards finished their grooming. He even seemed to relish it.

“Come now,” Joshua laughed as he strode up, his mind echoing his words. “Enough of this. I'll help get you cleaned up, Oanneth.”

The light colored hatchling seemed to like the preening, but did agree. It was time to get down to business! That business? Eating! And boy did this dragonet eat.

Joshua sought out the grinning faces of his parents, and held up the smallish (ish, he wasn't really tiny!) hatchling who still gobbled a chunk of meat. They would get to meet him soon enough. Once the whole hatching ended and the hubub died down, finally, they had the chance to sit down with Josh and his new dragonet!

"Well that certainly is a dragon," dadBarney said. His own was feathered, definitely not this breed! And dadGordon's was... well, there was something strange and familiar about his dragon, tall and colorful - maybe it was the color scheme, honestly, because whenever Gordon looked at this little pale shaded dragonet he could swear there were similarities. Blocky sets of shimmering values, against the cream.

But - they'd find out in due time! For now, Crowbar and Wrench watched over their new little charge like fierce gargoyles, and continued to do so until he was much, much bigger than they.

***

"Well that certainly is a colorful dragon," Barney muttered when his son and mostly-matured dragon were brought back to the Rookery for good. And he wasn't wrong: that pale little hatchling had definitely grown into a large, healthy, obnoxiously loud-colored dragon. Just like Gordon's Ay'geevee, and even about the same size. He did dwarf his own feline-daemon partner, but at least they got along very well. Protective, sure, a bit inquisitive.

Within the next year or so, as Oanneth grew to his full adult size, they were tasked with monitoring equipment near the Rookery, but they expanded their range around the Ranch, dam, and even showed up at the Bayou occasionally just to relax. Oanneth liked hanging out there. It had a pleasant smell, it had a lot more shade and cover and water to play in... And it had Solaris and Fantell.

"You really like her, don't you?" Josh smirked, as he worked on breaking down a set of copper pipes for transport back to the Ranch. "I mean, you could... I dunno, ask her out?"

That isn't what we do, the dragon replied. He was now around three years old, mature enough to know what a female liked, young enough to not have a lot of experience with acting on it. I will give her things. She likes helping her own bond, and they are busy workers just like us. Perhaps something to entertain her in the meantime.

And he flew off, looking for shiny things and items that the silk-maker could work into her craft. The silk itself came from the dragoness - they were not Pernese, those Pyrrhans, but they were lovely and this one seemed to be quite like Oanneth in personality if not physically. "Well you ... do that," Josh muttered, as the dragon teleported away.

What he didn't realize was that he was teleporting into Fantell's private work space, but that's neither here nor there. Literally, it's nowhere, because it was a Vortal construct. The dragon didn't notice that this place 'didn't exist', of course. It existed right there! So began a strange courtship...

Dragon

Name: Oanneth (oann'e Kildin Saami 'to hold/keep')
Gender: Male
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-large 10' s / 28' l / 40' ws
Colors: 'Brown Variant' mostly creamy white body, with brilliant orange markings on base of tail and top/front of head; deep blue on face, mid-tail, dorsal wings; bright yellow fringe on dorsal wings and tail end; ventral wing sails and tail spade are black with pale grey markings; eyes change with mood, often orange with curiosity
Features: mostly standard Pernese, sleek design with no frills, smooth body from head to tail, tail spaded, internal-3-fingered leather wings, 3 large claws on all feet; -TH naming structure with the right mate, egg layer, requires bond at hatching; Markings may inherit as bird-based and are diffuse and faded at hatching, maturing at fledge stage into bright patterns, including a crest possible.
Powers: Winged Flight - with tough, somewhat thick wings, Oanneth is a strong lifter, and can maintain his course in difficult winds or conditions. He doesn't care to fly in firefights, he's not great at dodging, though obviously his teleportation can help him there. He's not meant as a fighting dragon, after all, so he likes to take his time and be careful when he's helping Joshua transport large items or goods.
Teleportation - this is Oanneth's true specialty, he is deviously clever about how and when to teleport, and it seems to take absolutely no effort at all. Notably he also 'stores things' somewhere, likely in a real-world place that he alone visits, because no one really believes a Pernese dragon can create a Vortal construct... But as Waxwing-like as he is in appearance, he is also like those birds for his behaviors in tucking things away and getting them back. He has a true gift for locating and retrieving objects, people, and finding places that others might miss. His displacement is completely silent, and at best even if he's in a crowded room when he shows up, maybe some papers might flutter on his arrival - he seems to 'exchange' local volume for his own. Even Keenan thinks that's impressive, and coming from the Teleportation master... that's high praise indeed. He can and has 'accidentally' wound up in other dimensions, requiring a rescue himself, so there's a little bit of that weird Genrehopping in him, but it's uncontrolled and doesn't happen very often.
Communication - Oanneth is highly tuned to his rider, and can hear Josh at virtually any distance, including while teleporting. Sensitive to the needs of those around him, however, he's very well aware of minds of people and dragons, pets, and whatever else when he teleports. He doesn't want to squish anyone, right? So Oanneth tends to 'ping' an area and get the lay of the land before deciding to arrive. This all happens in a split-second, usually while he's teleporting... It doesn't take any longer than a typical port. He is reasonably quiet as far as dragons go, however, and mostly listens rather than speaks in groups of them. That said, he's not just a follower, he's taken control of situations on occasion, and led folks out of danger without being told. He can telepathically speak to humans, Vorts, and other dragons, but he typically chooses not to.
Assisted Firebreath - like most Pernese dragons, he can chew up 'firestone' or some chemical compound that will interact with his built-in second gut, and can belch out hot flames. They're accurate, but short in duration as well as distance from him, he can help with large scale welding, and that's about it. Generally he'll help Joshua melt things down if they're soft, but keep to lifting them into a smelter if they're too difficult to melt with breath alone.
Parentage: Red-Pink Tinoth + Two Tone Blue Razelth; siblings include:

Origin: Istabitha Weyr's Valentine's 2021
Other Info: On his maturation, both of Josh's dads were... very, very impressed with his colors as well as his well-mannered behaviors. He seeks affection for his rider, however, and is picky as heck about who gets to be near Josh. After all, the Rookery and its protected areas are important, no distractions, only good folks need apply. Josh is... sometimes a little less than happy with this arrangement...