I think Nall's biggest problem is that he doesn't have a plan. I think his master plan for his life was hanging out on Corwin's shoulder and being snide at people forever. Then he realized that he can't hang out on Corwin's shoulder forever.. and that he doesn't enjoy being small enough to hang out on someone's shoulder.
He tried hanging out on Umi's shoulder, but that was weird, because she was his girlfriend and kind of a badass and he didn't entirely like the idea of being less badass than his girlfriend.
So he tried being more badass. Except this led to wrecking his image as an effective shoulder cat.
And now he looks around and realizes that, in 30 someodd years, every other one of his friends has found something Important, or at least Fun to do. And he hasn't. He's a dragon who has not cultivated a lot of life skills beyond what is required to be a dragon and live in a cave being ominous. And he MIGHT be a little bit miffed at himself over it. So he's trying to sort himself out, and he has this IDEA of what's going on and why he's upset but he CAN'T quite put it into words yet.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
He tried hanging out on Umi's shoulder, but that was weird, because she was his girlfriend and kind of a badass and he didn't entirely like the idea of being less badass than his girlfriend.
So he tried being more badass. Except this led to wrecking his image as an effective shoulder cat.
And now he looks around and realizes that, in 30 someodd years, every other one of his friends has found something Important, or at least Fun to do. And he hasn't. He's a dragon who has not cultivated a lot of life skills beyond what is required to be a dragon and live in a cave being ominous. And he MIGHT be a little bit miffed at himself over it. So he's trying to sort himself out, and he has this IDEA of what's going on and why he's upset but he CAN'T quite put it into words yet.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead