We Are Bulletproof

The realm between hell and Earth--a temporary resting place for those that the Master summoned forth--was a gray, vast, empty space. All that Dragon could see was emptiness and nothingness. Others like him dotted the landscape, all waiting and biding their time until they were called upon to perform their respective duties.

A portal stood like a silent sentinel in the distance. It was black now, and inactive, although occasionally Dragon caught glimmers of activity within its gates closer to the full moon. Once or twice he attempted to cross the barrier into the living world but he never strayed too far. The Master would be displeased, surely, if he emerged too soon.

It wasn't yet time for Dragon to serve out his purpose.

That didn't mean that he wasn't curious, though. He had a channel into the world through the tarot card that part of his soul had been fused with, and through it he saw interesting things. There was also a human, the one who possessed his card. Dragon's name came from the human and he was maybe a little over-proud of that fact. Others had no names; they simply existed to serve.

But Dragon was special.

He didn't know how many others of his kind there were, but he imagined that even if they existed, they wouldn't be nearly as special as he was. Names were important things. There was power in a name, in having one and knowing one. The human's name, he knew, was Kinley. And Kinley called him Dragon. This formed a bond between them and through that bond, Dragon was able to aid his human and to communicate with him through the humans' language, as long as there was a convenient scrap of paper about for him to draw on.

Dragon liked Kinley. He knew he liked him because Kinley expressed the sentiment first, and Dragon agreed; therefore, it was mutual. Kinley thought he was beautiful. Dragon didn't know what that word meant but he felt the spike of admiration through their connection and it resonated positively with him.

One day, he thought, he might brave the portal just so that he could see Kinley in person. Not in his original form, of course; he wasn't that foolish. The humans would panic and the Master would banish him back to hell. That would never do. Dragon had a job to do, and the thought of not seeing Kinley again made him feel...

Well, he didn't know the word for it, but it wasn't a positive feeling like 'beautiful.'

Maybe the opposite, whatever that word was.

For a while, Kinley didn't say anything about it.

The card he found. There it was after dance class one night. It was lying under the bus bench, half hidden by the shadows of the bench itself. Kinley remembered being curious, thinking somebody left behind their ID. But when he drew closer, he realized it was larger. It was the size of a tarot card and when he picked it up, he could see the image of a pretty dragon imprinted on it. Or painted on it? When he drew it closer, he could swear it rippled like it was made of water. Pulling it back, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, just an ink drawing of a really beautiful dragon.

"Beautiful," he said, before realizing he said it aloud. Looking around, nobody was close enough to hear him. If it was somebody's, he felt... like he didn't want to find the owner. So he tucked it away into the pocket of his denim jacket.

He told nobody that he had it. But he looked at it a lot when he was alone. He remembered lying in bed the night he found it. Staring at it, shifting it so that he could see it from different angles. He could have sworn it moved, that it had changed position since he last looked at it. And... something about it made him admire it. It made him want to create something just as beautiful with his own hands. Kinley had never been good at drawing. He wanted to be; he tried to be. But he wasn't. He sucked at it; everything he created with his own hands was terrible and he knew it. Art was not in his blood.

But when he held the card... it was.

After he told Kero, he felt a little silly. He sort of wished he could take it back but he already admitted to it. And now... Just now, he told Tim, too. After he sent the message, he instantly regretted it. He looked up from the phone to check out the window where he was. Earlier, he claimed to be at the school but he was mistaken; he was still another stop away from it. Whoops. Well, he'd still help Kero get out of class sooner than if he didn't show up!

He still had his backpack on. He took it to dance class to change into sweats. Eyeing it where it sat next to him on the seat, he had to know. Opening the front pocket's zipper, he reached in for the card. As he suspected, it changed again. Kinley tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared it over.

"How are you doing that?" he asked it in a hushed tone. It really was magic.

"How are you doing that?"

Kinley's voice broke through the monotonous silence. Dragon shifted; his head snapped up like a dog that had suddenly caught sight of a cat or a bird. If he focused hard enough with his eyes closed, he could see Kinley through the card's surface. It was like a tiny window into the other world, and currently Kinley's face was hovering above it, looking serious in concentration.

Dragon shifted again and with it, his image on the card did so too. Not far off in the distance, he felt the air changing. Briefly he cracked open one eye. The portal was activating. But strangely, the others didn't seem to have noticed it--or if they did, they ignored it. Dragon knew that he should ignore it too. It wasn't his time. But it was growing closer to the appointed time...

Was there any harm in taking a small peek? Just... a tiny one?

He wiggled in a paroxysm of indecisive anguish. Dragon wanted to be in the same world as Kinley. He wanted to reach out to touch his hair and his face, to explore his physical form. (Not in any obscenely biological way, but... just to know how he felt. How a human felt, compared to a demon like Dragon or like the other demons that inhabited the realm.)

The image changed, too, shifting more quickly with Dragon's restlessness. The inky dragon swam in and out of the frame as his eyes opened and closed, and as he eyed the portal that was opening wider and wider. The others didn't even look at the portal and by now, with how much it thrummed and buzzed and crackled, they had to have noticed. That meant that only Dragon could see it.

It meant that the portal was opening only for him.

Slowly he inched toward portal. The dragon on the card began to glow and pulse.

"Wh-whoa!"

This was... this was strange. Kinley stared at the card as it pulsed and glowed. Swallowing hard, he looked around the bus and realized that the light was emanating so brightly that the girl in the aisle across from him was staring. Kinley quickly reached up and grabbed onto the stop line before shooting up to his feet and rushing for the front of the bus. He held his bag against his body and the card against his chest. For some reason... it felt warm. And if he weren't trying to get off the bus without showing off the card to every occupant, he might have even dropped it.

The bus came to a gasping halt and Kinley practically bounced off the bottom step of the bus to the pavement before making a beeline for a small line of trees. The school was within sight--the trees were a part of the exterior. But as far as he could tell, there were no students in the area. Dropping his bag down against his leg, he pulled the card away from his chest.

"Where--?"

Dragon actually didn't mean to enter the portal.

He had changed his mind at the last second, had turned away from it out of fear of his master--the creator of the realm, of the portal, of them. Dragon wasn't terribly brave. He feared the wrath of his master and he didn't want to make waves or be banished back to hell. Even though he was a minor demon--more of an imp, really--he still did have a part to play in the master's plans.

But he had gotten too close to it; it sucked him in and with a surprised cry, he felt himself entering through the swirling morass of dark energy. The world dissolved before his eyes, and then reformed. Dragon shot out of the card and tumbled on top of somebody in a jumble of arms and legs, in a brilliant burst of blinding white light.

The sound that he let out was a mix between a shout and a cry. He fumbled for something to hold on to and felt something... soft and silky sliding between his claws. Or... rather... fingers? He flexed them against the soft and silky mass, not realizing that he was tugging on hair. "Hhhn?" Dragon hadn't learned the fine art of human speech yet; he could only confusedly mutter as he flexed his fingers again, fascinated by the substance that he held in them as he laid on top of something soft and warm and squishy.

He tried not to stumble but he couldn't help it. One moment, there was nothing but a crazy white flash and the next, there was the weight of an entire human person on him all at once. So of course he fell back. He intended to bounce right back up but that was impeded by the fact that the human body's weight went with him, effectively thwarting that idea.

"What? Who?"

He only had questions that he couldn't even fully form because he wasn't even sure what he was trying to ask. Actually, who were the questions aimed at in the first place? Because there was a person now, lying on top of him and grabbing onto his hair. None of this was normal, as far as he was concerned. So he talked magic with his brother and his friend but he didn't really expect anything super magical to happen. There was the whole card helping him with drawing, that was sort of a magic. This was... he didn't know what it was.

Did he just not see the person? In his haste to get off the bus?

He raised his hand up to try and move the hands away from his head, tried to half sit up, glimpsing the dark head of somebody as he did so. Also, bare shoulders. When he blinked away the stars in his eyes from smacking his head on the cement, he saw um. A lot of that. Skin color. All the way down. Immediately, he tried to extricate himself.

"You're naked!"

"Hmm?"

Dragon's throat wouldn't work properly. It was a human throat; it didn't respond the way his dragon throat did and when he was partly dislodged with the movement of the thing underneath him, he realized that it was a human. But not just any human!

"Kiney!"

His eyes lit up as he eased back to get a proper look at Kinley, who had struggled to get away from him. Dragon had been trying hard--oh, so hard--to speak to him. He learned words like yes and no. He tried saying Kinley's name too but the L always stumped him. (Then again, Kinley wouldn't have been able to pronounce Dragon's true name either.)

But why did Kinley sound so scandalized? Dragon looked down at his fleshy human body. It was covered in a layer of pinkish-pale skn. No scales. His tail was gone too and his ears stuck out at the side of his head instead of being on top of it. Dragon frowned. There were some dangly things between his legs that he was unfamiliar with. He looked up at Kinley, whose body was covered in cloth, and frowned harder.

Slowly, Dragon got to his feet, wobbling. "Ugh." He felt ungainly and immediately tilted to the left, and reached out to hug a nearby tree before he fell over. His back itched and he shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. The inky tip of a dragon's tail slid across his shoulder briefly, then disappeared; the dragon on the card was on his back now, moving just the way it did on the card.

Did he just try and say my name? Kinley stared at the naked guy. It actually sounded kinda... cute. Not that he was going to admit it, especially since it was a weird naked guy calling him that. The thing was, though--the more disturbing part--was that naked guy knew his name. At least, he knew it enough to get it partially correct. Who the heck was he? He looked similar in age to Kinley, so he could have been a classmate but there were only like 120 kids in his senior class. Maybe younger? Maybe he was one of his brother's classmates?

He seemed older than that though. A new senior? Junior? Kinley half frowned. Then the guy was standing and... uh... his parts were too close to his line of vision. Quickly, Kinley also got to his feet, trying to busy himself with dusting himself even as he felt his face heating up. Then he looked up as the naked guy unsteadily fell over. Moving to his side, Kinley started to try and catch him--out of habit--but the naked guy grasped onto the nearby tree to steady himself. And when he did, Kinley's gaze fell onto the naked guy's back.

What he saw there made him stare. His mouth even fell slightly open, a million unasked questions forming and dying before they could make their way out. Not only was it there--the dragon from the card--but it had moved for a few seconds before stilling. Before he knew what he was doing, Kinley touched it--the dragon marking, and the naked guy's back. If he was expecting the smooth material of the card, that was not what he got. If he expected ink, that was also not what he felt. It felt... warm and smooth and solid. It felt like he was touching a person's back.

He moved his hand back like it was on fire.

"Sorry!" He apologized because it was what he'd normally do... except this was some naked guy who might have been a magic ink dragon like two minutes ago. There was nothing normal about any of this! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the teachers in the quad looking over at them. She looked as scandalized as Kinley felt when he realized a naked person was on top of him.

Kinley quickly tore his backpack off and shoved a pair of sweats at the naked guy. "Put this on!" he hissed, because the teacher was now approaching them, looking highly displeased.

"Hmmmm..." The noise that Dragon wanted to make was one of pleasurable contentment as a hand pressed warmly against his back. It came out slightly contemplative--not what he meant to do, but this throat with its human voice was throwing him for a definite loop! He arched into the touch like a pleased cat, but all too quickly, it was gone and Dragon's head whipped around to see what the problem was.

Kinley seemed horrified (was that horror? Oh, these human faces were so different from the ones that Dragon knew!). Dragon didn't see anything to be horrified about--or embarrassed?--but he didn't know much about human conventions. However, even he knew the look of wrath on the face of a female of the species marching in their direction.

Mystified by the cloth that Kinley thrust at him, Dragon contemplated it. It had the approximate shape of his new body but... how did it go on him? Kinley said something in an urgent tone so Dragon knew that it was important, whatever was in his hand. Slowly, in a daze from the portal travel and confused by everything happening at once, Dragon sank down to crouch. He placed the cloth over his head, like it could hide him, and tried to make a small target of himself in case the female was on the offense. Perhaps this cloth was a shield, meant to absorb attacks.

"WHAT are you DOING?" She demanded of them, while Dragon shifted ever so slightly so that most of the tree hid him from her angry eyes.

"I-I'm," Kinley stammered, moving slightly to the left as if that would somehow conceal the naked guy from her sight. The guy was already crouched behind a tree but he wasn't slipping the sweatpants on to cover his... er... naughty parts. Instead, he was sticking it on his head. Kinley only noticed this when he followed the stern line of the woman's sight and turned his head to see it for himself. His eyes widened slightly and he tried to signal for the guy to put the pants on but the naked guy didn't seem to understand his weird facial expressions.

"We were..."

There was no way around it. Kinley knew what she was thinking because any adult with half a brain--heck, half the students here--would quickly jump to the obvious: that they were getting some nookie out by the side of the school. They were both fairly young too, so they could have been students. The school was a small one, though and the teacher--Mrs. Briggs--knew who they were by sight. Or at least... she knew Kinley and her gaze bore holes straight through him. Kinley leaned oh-so-casually against the tree and lightly crossed his arms. What was she going to do to him, anyway? She couldn't do anything; Kinley wasn't in high school anymore.

"We were having sex," he said with a confidence he didn't actually have but it paid off in the shock that crossed Mrs. Briggs' face... at least, right before she went bright red and glowered at him.

"On school property?" she practically screeched. And just when he thought things couldn't be worse than they were, he saw an all too familiar face leaving the school.

"Oh no," he groaned, dropping his head against his hand.

Dragon didn't know what was going on, or what the words coming out of Kinley's mouth meant, but he could tell that the female wasn't impressed by those words. Which... was a little bit of a shame because Dragon thought that each word Kinley spoke sounded nice in his voice, even if the meaning might not be placating angry females.

He tried to shift one of the pieces of the shield over his face to hide it, but by then it was pretty much understood that he had been noticed. In his normal form, he would have gone invisible--or eaten her. In his current form, he felt exposed and fleshy and vulnerable to attack and he Did Not Like It.

"KIN!" A voice rang out clearly in the distance as more males approached. "ARE YOU OKAY??" They were young; Dragon sensed no overwhelming power from them, unlike from the female. He peeked out to see two figures running towards them, uttered a frightened sound and bolted upright, making for the thickets and trees that surrounded the building.

But he didn't go alone.

No, he flung out an arm and grabbed Kinley too, dragging him along deeper into the woods. "No!" Dragon shouted one of the two words he knew. Yes was too... affirmative. He wanted to stress the danger of the situation, and how he wanted them to get away before the female and the two young males attacked them.

All he could remember was what Tim said about his brother wanting to imitate everything Kinley ever did and now this was going to be a thing! He hoped the old lady didn't tell them what they were doing. Or what Kinley claimed they were doing. He didn't even know why he did it--mostly for the shock factor--but really, it was just going to land him in more hot water with his mom if it got back to her. And it would, because Mrs. Briggs and his mom got along scarily well. Damn, damn, damn. Why was he so dumb sometimes?!

There was hardly any time to think back on all of his past mistakes and regrets because as soon as the naked guy caught sight of Kero and his little dope of a friend coming at them, he seemed to view it as a terrorist attack. Kinley didn't see it coming--one second he was shaking his head against his hand and wishing he could drop into the earth, never to be seen again and the next second he was grabbed bodily by the arm and pulled backward. In his effort to stay on his feet, he was forced to basically run along with the naked guy, all the while trying to extricate himself from his grasp.

"Do you not see how insane you look?" Kinley asked, staring at the naked guy with a pair of sweats on his head. He looked even more ridiculous as they ran because the legs of the sweats streamed off behind him like black bunny ears.

"No!"

He had no idea what Kinley gasped at him as they ran but it sounded ominous. It sounded like the kind of thing people being pursued by dangerous attackers would say, so Dragon kept on running and running and running, zig-zagging through the trees and taking Kinley along with him despite Kinley's attempts to free himself. Only when Dragon ran out of steam--and breath--did he stop to collapse against another tree, hugging it with his cheek pressed up against the rough, hard bark and panting like a dog.

"Kin...ey... no..." Dragon hadn't let go of him. He had a death grip on Kinley and nobody was going to make him relinquish his hold unless they had a crowbar. Furtively he looked behind them. It didn't sound like anyone was in hot pursuit behind them. The woods were quiet, save for the occasional rustle of a branch as an animal darted around through the bushes. The two younger males did give chase at the beginning but Dragon thought that they had lost them now.

Slowly, Dragon turned to face Kinley. With his free hand, he removed the shield and let it hang over his shoulder, for lack of a better place to put it. "Kiney?" Dragon squeezed his wrist in an attempt to ask if Kinley was all right, but something probably got lost in translation.

No? He didn't realize? Kinley tried to look back once during their escapades in the woods but it only made him nearly trip. Apparently, he was just along for this ride with... naked guy, for lack of a better name. The whole thing was insanely strange and his head couldn't quite hang onto the truths that seemed obvious. Like... magic. He was only just coming to terms with magic. And then it exploded into his face like those prank glitter greeting cards. (Or a naked guy bursting out of a tarot card!) That was his only explanation but he didn't understand magic nearly enough to put into words what happened.

HOW does he know my name! He was going to ask but he was kind of breathless after their mad dash through the woods. He had no idea where they even were at this point, just that they were definitely lost because all he saw were trees, trees, and more trees--along with all the red, yellow, and brown leaves that were just starting to fall with the seasonal changes.

Shifting his body uncomfortably away from the rough bark of the tree--how did the naked guy do it?--Kinley looked back the way they'd come. Half of him hoped to see somebody familiar, even if it was Mrs. Briggs. It was quiet this far into the woods, though. All he could hear were the sounds of some birds calling to one another and the occasional rustle of small animals in the brush.

Resting a hand against his chest, he breathed inward, then started to let his head fall back against the tree trunk when he noticed that his wrist had been taken in the naked guy's hand. Kinley looked down at it. His hand around his wrist. He said his name incorrectly again. For, what, the third time now?

"How do you know my name?" It didn't seem like anything he said made a whole lot of sense to this guy. His gaze slid over his shoulder, definitely trying to keep his eyes up and not anywhere down below. How did he know his name, indeed. He'd know it if he saw it and heard it all this time, if the card he'd been carrying around all this time and murmuring questions to had been an actual creature. Kinley still couldn't fully wrap his mind around all that. It was... insane. It was magic.  Lifting his free hand to the naked guy's shoulder, he tried to urge him to turn around, to get a better look at the tattoo or mark or whatever it was on his back.

"What's this?" he asked. "Are you the dragon?"

Damn it, this difference in language was rapidly becoming irritating. Dragon wished that he knew how to speak human. For sure, Kinley wouldn't be able to pronounce a fraction of the words in the demonic language that was used down in hell. He let out a purely aggravated sigh and shook his head to indicate that he wasn't understanding what Kinley was saying at all.

Gestures, however, Dragon could interpret and he knew when Kinley's hand exerted pressure at his shoulder that Kinley wanted to steer him to turn around. While he didn't know if he liked the thought of exposing his vulnerable back to anyone, Dragon did as he was bidden anyway. He trusted that Kinley wouldn't blast him in the back or plunge a dagger into him.

The dragon ran the length of his back, from the nape of his neck down to his tailbone. It curled languidly, shifting into a near-spiral shape. Dragon couldn't feel it moving but he knew what it was doing; it was, after all, an extension of himself. It was him, in fact--his real self, commanding this human body like a puppet. And at the same time, he inhabited this human body's consciousness. The whole thing was very complicated but Dragon was glad that he was confined to a form that didn't make the humans nervous or panic.

Upon hearing 'dragon,' however, he let out a low shout. "Dragon!" Dragon whirled around, pointing to his own chest. His smile was bright and happy, like someone who had just had an Eureka! moment. He prodded his own chest again. "Dragon!" Then he prodded Kinley's chest. "Kiney." Names. These were their names.

"This is crazy," he murmured to himself as he stared at the dragon on the naked guy's back. It was definitely the same dragon. It was still the same beautiful shape, with the long, pretty tail and the elegant body and the black, inky limbs. It was still moving, too--which was pretty confusing. Was the dragon attached to him, then? Or was it him? His gaze traveled downward. He couldn't help it; he was a young male and he saw the shape of a nice ass in front of him. He just was sorta required to look at it!

But then just like that, naked guy was turning around and Kinley quickly jerked his head back up, staring at the naked guy in stunned silence for a few seconds. Dragon! All right. Yeah. There was a dragon on his back. He... seemed to be the dragon, judging by the way he excitedly smiled--um. That smile did weird things to his chest. Like... somersaults. Or backflips. Like the feeling he got when he danced. To distract himself, he made himself look down at his own chest, where the naked guy was poking him.

"Kinley," he said slowly. Yes, he was... Kiney. And the naked guy was apparently Dragon. "And you're... the dragon. Dragon."

Did dragons not speak the same language as people? His grasp of the language seemed to currently consist of "yes, no, dragon, and Kiney." So far. Kinley reached out slowly for the sweats that Dragon had taken off his head. "Sweatpants," he said. "These go on your... legs. Your bottom half. Your... um. Just... here!" He tried to urge Dragon to give him a leg so he could try to put them on him. He used to have to help Kero get dressed when he was little. The thing was... Kero was little when he had to do that.

Yes, they were Kinley and Dragon! He was Dragon! That was the name that Kinley gave him and he hoarded it like... er... dragon's gold? He didn't even tell any of the others about his name. It was his name. The thought of someone else simply knowing it made him feel possessive and-and frankly, it upset him. Dragon didn't want anyone to know about the special bond between them. That was their special bond, just for the two of them!

"Dragon." He nodded to confirm that he was the dragon, after Kinley spoke in a tone of utter disbelief. "Kiney." Dragon felt restless and wiggly with excitement, now that Kinley knew it was him--the dragon on the card. Hopefully he would no longer seem so spooked by Dragon's presence. Dragon preferred Kinley to look the way he did whenever he looked at the card, with that soft, awed smile on his lips and that certain affectionate look in his eyes. He liked Kinley to like him, not to be afraid of him or to be suspicious or surprised by him.

Dragon made a noise when Kinley took the shield from him, but then tried to pantomime... something. There were more words that he didn't know, and then seemingly out of nowhere Kinley reached down for his leg. "Ah--AH!" Dragon's shriek was a little high-pitched but he was falling by then, not being used to stick-like legs. He was accustomed to being a sinuous dragon, gliding freely through the air. Standing on what amounted to twigs was an abrupt and unpleasant change and he found that he had no coordination whatsoever. The only reason he ran for so long earlier was because some kind of instinct kicked in with his new body, at the threat of danger.

"Owww... Kiney...?" he groaned as he rubbed his head, laying spread-eagle on the hard ground. An expression of betrayal crept over his face. Why did Kinley flip him like that?! Was it a sneak attack?!

O-okay. Not what he expected! Kinley was used to people who could take a leg out from under them and just sort of roll with it. People from dance class, for example, were taught how to gracefully roll and how to fall without harming themselves. And Kero was a little brother so if he yanked at his leg, he'd probably just kick him in the face in retaliation. Dragon didn't even try to save himself. No. His leg was taken and he immediately lost balance, falling back against dry leaves and sticks while Kinley tried in vain to try and keep him from falling... yet again.

Kinley stared at Dragon, holding the sweatpants in his hand. He was still in his half crouched position from leaning down to try and get the pants on him. Instead of straightening up to stand, he dropped down onto his knees and slid closer across the slippery leaves. He noticed the look on Dragon's face, though and he paused. He lifted up the pants and shook them slightly.

"I'm putting the pants on your legs." He pointed to his own pants. "Like mine." He averted his gaze as he made a sweeping motion to Dragon's lower body. "To cover all... that."

Was it not a shield, but a weapon? Kinley shook the cloth in his hands and Dragon immediately scrambled backwards through the loam and leaves, eyes wide, frightened. Kinley wouldn't attack him... would he? Dragon flinched as Kinley's hand swept over his lower body after he reached for the things on his legs... as though pulling something from them. A spell! A curse!

"NO!" Dragon made a desperate scrabble for cover. "Kiney... noo..."

He might have sounded a little forlorn--a little betrayed, and a lot nervous. Why was Kinley trying to hurt him? Didn't he say that he liked Dragon? And that Dragon was beautiful? There was such a pleasant upsurge in emotion the first time that he said it, that Dragon couldn't have mistaken for anything other than a good thing. But now... the strange object in his hand and the attack...

"Kiney...' Dragon shook his head vehemently. "No. No Kiney." He didn't want to-to retaliate. He didn't want to hurt Kinley, so long as Kinley gave up thoughts of hurting him.

"What?"

He didn't understand how Dragon was seeing what he was doing. He thought it was so clear--that pants went on legs and that he was trying to help him put these pants on his legs to cover himself up. Instead, he was... moving around a lot and he looked utterly terrified of him. Kinley stayed where he was, still on his knees in the dirt, holding the sweatpants uselessly in his hands.

Dragon looked so skittish, like he was about to run into the woods on his own and never come back. Kinley had no idea what would happen after that. It didn't seem like he could--in all good conscience--let him disappear to be eaten by wolves or bears or something. Kinley chewed his lower lip in thought as he regarded the sweatpants. Now they just seemed to garner fear from Dragon. Just looking at it seemed to scare him. So Kinley slowly got to his feet, putting out his hands in a calming motion before he toed his shoes off (also slowly, just in case that was somehow perceived as scary too.) Then he showed Dragon the pants before pulling them on over his jeans. The sweatpants were a little roomier than his jeans so they fit, but they felt weird, uncomfortable, and definitely unnatural over his jeans.

"See? Pants. You put them on like this."

"NO!"

Dragon held out a hand, not sure what Kinley was doing with those dangerous things. Putting them on himself! Was he CRAZY? They were weapons! Or... or... not? Dragon stared. Nothing was happening to Kinley, even after the legs went in. Ah, so that was how they worked. Was it a shield after all, then? It looked like it was meant to encase the legs, possibly to protect them.

Slowly, Dragon crept forward. Admittedly, some of these body parts were uncomfortably swinging in the wind. He would have liked to contain them... Perhaps with this shield-like object now wrapped around Kinley's legs. Cautiously, Dragon reached out but he didn't touch them. He touched Kinley's forearm, concern etched on his face. "Kiney?"

Was he hurt? He didn't seem hurt. No pain--no hollering. Kinley wasn't warm or freezing cold. Dragon inched forward; his hand slid up along the side of Kinley's arm. He leaned forward to inspect Kinley better but at this proximity all he could see was... a handsome face. Kinley's eyes, dark and warm. Dragon smiled. No, Kinley wouldn't hurt him. Why did he over-react? (Maybe because he had been thrust into this new world and nothing here was familiar to him.)

Man, he really thought the pants were some kind of deadly weapon. Kinley raised his brows slightly, then looked down at the sweatpants wrapped around his legs. It seemed like Dragon got it now. At least, he thought he was getting it... until he touched his arm, not his pants. Why was he looking at him like that? Kinley checked his arm but it seemed fine inside its fall weather, light coat.

"What?" He blinked and tried not to step backwards as Dragon stared at him. What was he looking for? Something he didn't have the words for? Kinley swallowed a little nervously. Crap... When did he get so close? Although... it was hard not to smile a little in response to Dragon's pretty smile. Kinley raised his hand up to touch his face, the side of his soft face with his fingertips.

It was strange. Even in this form, he was still... "Beautiful."

Beautiful

Dragon had been trying to learn that word so that he could say it to Kinley. Beautiful. It captured the most uplifting, bright, happy emotion that Dragon had ever felt from Kinley. Beautiful was how Dragon felt every time Kinley looked at the card, and every time he spoke to it. Every time his fingertips touched the ink dragon--when their connection was strongest.

He felt it before Kinley spoke, the word unformed, in the bond that connected them. The moment that Kinley picked up the card, he was bound to Dragon, and vice versa. It was fate, it was meant to be, and Dragon didn't need to be a walking dictionary--or even know what a dictionary was--to know what Kinley's hand at the side of his face meant. Beautiful described everything about Kinley, but especially his smile. Dragon didn't know what it meant that suddenly his entire body felt flushed with warmth but it didn't seem like a bad thing.

"Bee... Beetiful." Dragon laughed because even he knew that how he said the word was different from how Kinley said it--and the sound of his own laughter was foreign to his ears. So this was what mirth sounded like from a human. His fingers clenched in the fabric of Kinley's coat and he stepped even closer. "Beetiful. Kiney."

Kinley laughed, too. The word sounded foreign coming from Dragon but he seemed to understand its meaning, or the word itself. Maybe it was because Kinley said it before, back when he first found the card and realized its magic features. He used to hoard it all to himself, up until today. Now he'd said something about it to two people but for a while there, it was his little secret--the magic card that moved when he looked at it, reacted when he touched it, and somehow imparted upon him a skill he'd always wanted but never had.

Magic.

Of course, that was the word that came to mind. In all his time here in Hazleton, he never thought he'd see it for himself, first hand. But now look at him: he'd not only seen that card and felt its power but now it had somehow come to life in the form of a person. A beautiful person, that somehow exactly embodied the feeling he got when he looked at the card. How could that be anything else, except magic?

"Beautiful," he repeated, slowly, so that Dragon understood the word better. What he didn't expect was the way Dragon held onto his coat and stood closer to him. Was he not just learning the word? Because honestly, the way he was saying it, it sounded more like Dragon was trying to communicate that he thought Kinley was beautiful.

"Me?" This close and personal with Dragon, he had to wonder, "Are you going to kiss me?"

"B-bee... yoo... tiful?"

It still sounded strange, the way that he stretched out each syllable, but if it made Kinley laugh again, Dragon was willing to make a fool of himself. "Beeyootiful," he said again, testing out the word when he pronounced it faster. It sounded a little more like the way that Kinley said it--except when Kinley said it to Dragon, it elicited warmth and affection. When Dragon said it--laughter.

He cocked his head lightly to one side when Kinley followed up with what sounded like a question. Dragon didn't know what he wanted to know but he put on a thoughtful face anyway--even as their faces were less than a foot apart. "Beeyootiful. Kiney. Yes." He didn't know how else to convey his feelings. It was sort of impossible to be eloquent when he only knew five words!

Dragon didn't know what the humans did when they felt affectionate towards one another--in that way--but for his own kind... Being a dragon, the easiest way to do so was to curl and wind around one another. In his current form, however, he wasn't a long graceful creature. He was a fleshy block with sticky out arms and legs. Dragon tried to curl around Kinley with his arms, wrapping them around him. He pressed his cheek to Kinley's and said, "Beeyootiful" again, in an impassioned whisper.

Ah, so he did think Kinley was beautiful. Awfully flattering, considering Kinley was just a normal human guy with no magic power to speak of... and Dragon was... as far as Kinley could tell, a beautiful, sinuous ink dragon made of magic and curiosity. He seemed really curious about everything. And he also seemed to have eyes for nothing else but him. Which was kinda flattering, although a little unnerving. But also kinda cute. He didn't understand why Tim hated this so much. Honestly, he was finding it... intriguing. Kinda... um. Kinda other things, too.

He didn't even know why he asked Dragon about kissing because if he didn't even know how to properly use the word beautiful and he didn't know how pants worked, there was no way he was going to know what a kiss was. It was such an incredibly stupid thing to ask and yet the question had come rolling out anyway. It was the way they were standing--pretty intimate--and they were so close and so... so... Um. Yeah.

"Yes?" he questioned, not sure he heard right. Then he inwardly scoffed. This wasn't what he thought it was. Surely Dragon had no idea what he said. But then he hugged him, curling about him a bit reminiscent of a koala. And he said it again, beautiful, in a pretty intimate way.

"Um..." He awkwardly slid his arm around Dragon, partly to hold onto him and make sure he didn't go skittering off and partly because he wanted to. His heart pounded madly in his chest as they stood together, cheek to cheek. This was so strange. He didn't normally get this close to strangers so quickly. Yet here he was... and it didn't even feel like he was with a stranger because the energy from the card he'd found and the energy from Dragon felt like they were one and the same.

"You're really nice," he said, for some reason in hushed tones like the ones Dragon used when he pressed his cheek to his. "But if we don't get you dressed and find a way out of here before dark, we might be screwed." Reluctantly, slowly, he moved his head back so he could look at Dragon. "You need to get dressed now, all right?"

Ah--Kinley curled around him too. Or his arms did, at any rate. Dragon's heart soared into the clouds and he uttered a very pleased sound, a little like a sing-song hum. It appeared as though Kinley felt the same way about him; otherwise, he wouldn't have wound his arms around Dragon, reciprocating the affection and the feelings that Dragon was trying to convey.

"Hmm?" Kinley was speaking again, in a whisper, but even so, Dragon caught on to the tone of his voice. He smiled at a far-off bush. Kinley did like him! In--yes--that way! How they were going to further express their mutual... er... like of each other was anyone's guess but Dragon supposed that it was a little too soon for that anyway. He had to figure out this human body first, and its limitations and capabilities. He couldn't even wind around another person, for goodness' sake!

As Kinley pulled back, however, Dragon uttered a disappointed noise. Or, rather, Kinley's head moved back and Dragon looked reproachfully at him for a few moments. What did he want? His tone indicated a question but the only response he got was a quizzical look and a lift of Dragon's brows. "Kiney?"

He was cute. Like really cute. Like cuter than anybody he'd ever met before, even though he was also naked (which in some perverted corners of his mind wasn't exactly a negative thing) and didn't know anything he said. But he was cute and he was warm and he hugged him, which was cute. How could anybody not like him?

I shouldn't have said what I said back there. To Mrs. Briggs. It was going to cause problems for Dragon and himself later on down the road. Aiyaaa, if she said anything to Kero he was going to die right on the spot.

While Dragon contemplated him, Kinley contemplated Dragon. He thought about what Tim said again and thinking about Tim reminded him that there was an Evie--another mystery person found and brought in. Was she like Dragon then? Kinley thought maybe he should introduce them. Didn't Evie once say something about a brother? Maybe this was him. But there were so many differences; like Evie knew perfectly well how to speak, how to act around people, how to get dressed. He could only imagine what would have transpired had she shown up in the same state as Dragon.

Kinley reached out and tried to smooth Dragon's brows down, to make him look less inquisitive. "The pants," he said, then gestured to the pants he'd put on earlier. He tried to make the word as clear as possible: "Pants."

Then he cast a worried glance up, hoping it wouldn't get dark before they found their way back to the school. This area wasn't nearly as bad as the one where people literally were torn apart by animals but either way, Kinley really didn't want to risk it. So he leaned down and he squirmed his way out of the sweatpants. Then he repeated it: "Pants."

He prodded Dragon in the chest because there was no way he was prodding him where pants were meant to go.

Dragon blinked rapidly as fingers came poking at his brow, resisting the urge to snap his head back. Kinley wasn't poking him in the eye, he was just... doing something to Dragon's forehead. The brows relaxed and Dragon looked down at the hand that Kinley was using to point at his legs. "...pans." Evidently that was the name for them. Pans. And Kinley wanted him to do... something with them. Possibly slip them on over his own legs? For protection? (And to rein in the dangling bits.)

As they finally broke apart, Dragon watched Kinley removing the protective covering from his legs. He blinked as he was poked and slowly reached for the cloth, holding them in his hands but still feeling a little lost and confused. Well. Only way to know what they did was to put them on, he supposed! Besides, it was growing darker, and colder, and Dragon was beginning to shiver a little bit. These human bodies were awfully flimsy.

He began to lift a leg, imitating what Kinley did earlier when he slipped into these pans, but his other leg began to wobble badly so he hastily put the upraised leg down. "Hm..." Dragon looked around, up at Kinley, sighed in exasperation, then studied the ground. "Pans..." Dragon muttered unhappily, before dropping to sit on the mushy leaves underfoot.

He struggled for a while to get one leg in; his foot wouldn't bend the way he wanted it to and snagged on the cuffs. "Nrrg!" Dragon finally forced it through, then looked up almost proudly at Kinley before starting on the second leg, which proved more difficult due to the fact that the other leg was already all the way in. The material felt soft, at least. Just... he didn't know if he could handle this arduous and difficult process every time.

He lifted the back of his hand to his mouth and turned his head, trying his best not to laugh aloud. It wasn't poor Dragon's misery that he found amusing. It was just the unhappy tone combined with the way he said pants that pushed him to the verge. Clearing his throat and shaking his shoulders out, he turned back toward Dragon to find that he had at least gotten one leg in. The other one, however, seemed to be giving him trouble.

Slowly, Kinley sank down in the leaves next to him and helped him out with the second led of the pants. But even with two legs inside the pants, he was still... uncovered. Kinley rose to his feet and gestured for Dragon to get up--then realized that if Dragon was clumsy when he didn't have pants encasing his legs, he was going to be even more so now. So he held out his hand for Dragon to take so he could help him up... and help him pull his pants up around his waist.

"There!" he said, somewhat triumphant as he patted Dragon on the arm. "Oh wait, hold on." He slid his jacket off. "Here." Resigning himself to the fact that Dragon would need help with the jacket, too, he put an arm through it. "See, it's better~!"

Dragon looked up at the sound of Kinley's laughter, which--while musical and pleasant in his ears--made his cheeks burn in embarrassment. He supposed he looked silly, or inept, having to sit down and struggling with this basic form of protection. Kinley did it so gracefully earlier. Why couldn't he do it?!

Eventually, with lots of help from Kinley (and Dragon kept sneaking glances over at him while they were this close, holding up the whole process) the pans went on properly. He took Kinley's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, after which the stretchy top bit went up and above his dangly bits, containing them so that they no longer flopped around in a way that Dragon could only describe as being deeply disturbing and uncomfortable.

"Huh?" Now another new item was added, this one to go over the body. Dragon stuck an arm through it too, but facing the cloth so that when he did, it only covered his front and not his back. He looked at it with a deep frown and then looked up at Kinley with a mutinous expression. "No."

"Um..."

The jacket was on backwards. But as Kinley went to try and correct it, Dragon stared at him with a dangerous expression, like he was sick and tired of being treated like a rag doll. Well... nobody wanted that but Kinley was pretty sure Dragon didn't want to be caught walking around half naked, either. Since Dragon didn't seem keen on letting him switch the jacket around, he sighed and tried to urge Dragon to turn around again.

"If you're going to wear it backwards, at least let me button it."

It would look stupid but at least his back wouldn't be exposed if Hazleton's famous rainstorms started. Again, he found himself peering up through the canopy of trees. It was steadily growing cooler and darker in the woods and his heart skipped a beat. The two of them stuck out here against the elements all night hardly sounded appealing. Plus, he left his backpack out where Mrs. Briggs was, when he was dragged unceremoniously off with Dragon. The only thing he managed to get out of his backpack was the pants--his phone and everything else was back there...

Uh-oh. Not... a good thing by any means.

Well this was much better! Dragon looked down at himself; now he looked just like any old human! ...minus the part where the back collar of the jacket was cutting into his windpipe, and the fact that he was barefoot and disheveled, wearing a jacket backwards. But other than THAT, he looked very presentable.

He was also much warmer now, and gradually the shivering stopped. Dragon sidled up to Kinley, thinking about curling up against him again--he was a lonely dragon, stuck in a realm where most of his kind weren't present. But the worried expression on Kinley's face stopped him and he reached out to curl a hand around Kinley's wrist instead.

Where did they go now? Did they stay here? Dragon thought about the card--his ticket back to the realm of endless gray--and he felt a stab of reluctance at the idea of having to return there. At the very least... he didn't want to go back alone. But he didn't think that taking a human through with him was necessarily a good idea, either. The journey was already rough on him; it might be catastrophic for a human. (That just meant he couldn't go back! And it was an excuse to stay with Kinley for at least a little while longer!)

"Kiney?" he queried softly.

Slipping an arm around Dragon's shoulders, he took a look around and tried to figure out where they were. The woods by the school weren't that big but there were no trail markers anywhere around them and no landmarks within sight. None that he recognized, anyway. So for a moment, he remained where he was, listening to the wind gently blow the branches above them, swaying to nature's rhythm. He glanced down at the hand around his wrist, then slid his free hand over Dragon's hand. He seemed worried now, maybe now that all of the weirdness and excitement died down, he could see they weren't in the best situation.

His mom told him to stay in one place if he got lost while hiking but that was when they were with people. Kinley had no way of knowing what the others had done when they ran away. Mrs. Briggs probably stopped Kero and Tim's kid brother from following them. If they didn't come out soon, they might call the cops. If the cops got involved, there was no telling what they might do to Dragon. They wouldn't hurt him--of that he was sure. But they might take him down to the station, all alone and with little ability to communicate.

"Come on," he said finally, taking Dragon's hand and tugging him along with him. They just had to keep walking until they got out. There was really no other alternative. It would be better to walk out of their own volition than to involve the authorities.

Dragon was no stranger to darkness but he found that his vision was becoming severely limited with the withdrawal of light. It seemed that human eyes were incapable of night vision. He looked up keenly at the dense canopy above them, formed from criss-crossing branches and thick leafy boughs. Darkness was falling and it was getting windier, judging by the way that the leaves rustled.

"Hm." A concerned sound slipped from him as Kinley tugged him along. He followed, footsteps rustling through dried leaves and grass, sometimes stepping unpleasantly on a hard pine cone or a pebble. Dragon didn't make too much noise; he didn't want to attract the attention of creatures in the night. Much like in the other realm, darkness only brought out the monsters--and demons.

He thought that Kinley had an idea of where they were going--Kinley being the obvious expert here in the human world, on all things human. Dragon mostly walked with him, holding his hand tightly. If worst came to worst, he could protect Kinley--he could change back into his dragon form. The master would probably blast him into atoms for it, though...

Deeper, deeper they went and further and further they walked. Dragon looked around anxiously. Were they getting closer to where they needed to be, or further away? He imagined that Kinley wanted to go home, wherever home was in the human world, but all he saw were trees and more trees.

Hm was right. Kinley didn't wear a watch so he had no idea what time it was but the further they walked, the darker it got until they were walking in nearly total darkness. Their only guide were the stars above, often glimpsed through the eerie tree branches. Some of them looked like monstrous claws raking the sky and they looked even scarier when he realized that clouds were rolling in and covering up any light they previously had.

Through most of their trek through the woods, Kinley remained silent, trying to listen his way through the forest and away from any danger that lurked in them. At one point, he thought he heard a growl--his heart leapt into his throat--but when he turned around and looked, he didn't actually see anything. Still, he drew Dragon closer and held his hand tighter.

Eventually, he heard the telltale sound of water running and he found himself at one of the many streams that traversed through the woods. With relief, he nearly stumbled to the bank of the stream before letting out a whoop of relief. He turned toward Dragon to hold onto him tightly, grinning.

"I think I know the way now!"

The celebration was short lived, however--when he heard the crunch of a twig nearby. Freezing in place, he held onto Dragon and stared over his shoulder into the darkness.

"Who's there?!"

Dragon didn't want to admit it but he was scared. He heard the growl too and he whipped his head around to look, catching sight of something gleaming between two bushes. They looked like eyes, but he couldn't be sure and he didn't want to speculate. He definitely didn't say anything to Kinley, instead squeezing his hand in response and walking faster with him through the woods.

Eventually they came upon a small stream and by then, whatever had produced the growl seemed to have gone away. Or maybe it never followed them! Dragon tried to think optimistically as Kinley tugged him forward, though they both stumbled near the bank of the rivulet--Dragon doing so simply because he still wasn't accustomed to legs and feet. He was getting the hang of things, though, and didn't fall once up until that moment.

"Yes!" Hearing the elation in Kinley's voice, Dragon let out a whoop of his own too. He didn't know what the happiness was about but he went along with it anyway, if only because Kinley was smiling at him again and holding him even tighter. Dragon peered beyond him at the water, only to stop short. He froze, every sense tuned to their surroundings.

Crack! Snap!

Another series of noises sounded closer to them and he hastily pulled Kinley behind him. "Kiney..." Dragon's voice was a hushed warning. He pulled his hand away--if he needed to change, he couldn't do it while holding Kinley's hand.

Snap!

A stocky animal emerged from between two trees, with glowing yellow eyes. It was a wolf, with its lips curled in a deep and menacing snarl.

All thoughts about how they could follow the stream out of the woods were halted in the face of another growl. This time, he was sure he heard it and it sounded far closer than it had been before. Kinley tried to get a better look around but Dragon was stepping in front of him, speaking to him in what anybody could tell was a warning tone. Kinley didn't say anything--it was better to remain silent, calm, and listening than to start asking hysterical questions. At the same time, he felt like he could hardly hear anything over the water and his own pounding heartbeat.

Without a hand to hold, he grasped at the front of his shirt instead, staring at a shadow close to the ground, skulking forward with eyes that glinted in the moonlight. Thankfully it wasn't a full moon but that didn't mean they weren't faced with a werewolf. He half wanted to laugh thinking it but... if a dragon could appear as a human off the face of a card, then maybe the whispers about werewolves were true.

Swallowing hard, he took hold of the front of the jacket Dragon wore backwards and tried to pull him back and away. Not knowing how to use a human body the way he did, Kinley doubted that Dragon would be much help against an angry wolf.

"Don't. Don't fight it," he said softly, trying to back them up further down the stream. "They don't attack unless they're provoked."

That was what science shows said. That they only ate people when pushed into desperate measures by weather. The wolves in the area were well fed and fat, though. There were plenty of deer around, plenty of other wild life. No way would they choose to eat a human instead. But other things flashed through his mind, about strange murders, bodies that seemed mutilated by animals. Not here though. They weren't on the ridge. They were by the school!

Not knowing what Kinley was saying to him, Dragon didn't step back from the approaching wolf. He stood his ground and followed it with his eyes, his face a grim mask of determination. Obviously, he wasn't about to let anything hurt Kinley. Dragon didn't know what happened to him if his human body was destroyed but it wasn't like he didn't know where he was already headed. He came from there--hell. He wasn't afraid to go back again, save for the thought that he would be forever separated from Kinley.

Slowly, the wolf paced forward, its gleaming eyes on them. It growled low and snapped at them ferociously; Dragon started and took only a small step backwards, and only because Kinley was pulling on him. He thought he'd be all right, though, what with two shields on him.

"Kiney..."

Dragon reached behind to try and push Kinley out of the way, in case the animal lunged at them. It wasn't within range yet but it was closing in on them, making Dragon uneasy with every measured pace that it took. He wanted to tell Kinley to run, to flee, but he didn't know the human word for it! All he could do was push, at him, half-turned so that one eye was on the animal and the other on Kinley.

Did they stumble on babies? Was it a mama wolf protecting its young? But if it was the same animal that growled at them earlier, it meant they had been stalked for a while. That also meant it could have come at them a lot earlier. Kinley had no idea what went through the mind of an animal. They didn't have any pets at home because his mother was allergic to basically anything with fur. (A shame, really, because Kinley loved his friends' pets... only to come home and have his mom order him to wash up immediately!)

This wasn't a fluffy kitty or a happy puppy, though. This was a wolf and he would have been a fool not to be afraid of it.

"Come on," he said, trying to urge Dragon to follow him. He didn't know where they were going, really, just that they had to stay close to the stream. The stream itself wasn't very deep--they could cross it and probably only stand up to their ankles in water, maybe their knees at the deepest. But that also meant the wolf could follow them. Putting a stream between them probably wouldn't help.

And if they ran in, away from the stream... Then they would be left to wander in the darkness... again.

If they ran down the stream, though... If they ran, wouldn't the wolf just chase them? It didn't seem ready to let up any time soon. Warily, cautiously, he leaned down to pick up a stick, tossing it in the general direction of the wolf.

"Shoo! Get out of here!"

"No... Kiney, no." They could stand here tugging on each other and pushing at one another all night but it wouldn't make the wolf look any less hungry. That was a look Dragon knew well--hunger. Not the kind of hunger that meant it wanted a piece of meat but... something else. A hunger for bloodshed was the only way that Dragon could explain it. The wolf wasn't starved; it looked plump and well-fed.

It wanted something else, having stalked them all the way here. And it caught the stick with a contemptuous snap, tossing it aside with something close to derision.

"Kiney." Dragon turned fully to him, frustration etched in every line of his face. He pointed to himself. "Dragon!" He was a dragon--he'd be all right! It was Kinley, the human, who was in real danger! Dragon pushed him--shoved him, hard--to try and get him to run away.

The wolf sprang as he half-turned to face it and it was a giant leap forward--far too powerful for a normal animal. Dragon let out a shocked, pained cry as his arm was seized between its jaws and he felt, quite acutely, the teeth sinking into his flesh.

"But you're not!"

He might have been a dragon once but now he was in a human body, as far as Kinley understood. A human against a wolf with no weapons? It was ludicrous! Everybody always said that animals were more afraid of humans than any human was of an animal but anybody who said that hadn't been staring at a wolf that could lunge at any second--and tear out their throats. Just the thought of it made Kinley queasy.

Being shoved away so unexpectedly didn't help, either. Kinley tripped on a stone and scraped his knee against a rocky patch on the bank. Immediately, he sprang back, turning toward Dragon and the wolf just in time to see the wolf's sharp fangs sink into a very human looking arm. Letting out an incoherent shout, Kinley got to his feet and tried to kick at the wolf with one foot, attempting to get it off Dragon.

"Get out of here!" he shouted, heart pounding erratically. Pure adrenaline was the only reason he reacted so foolishly. No, adrenaline mixed with fear. And maybe the fear made him stupid but his panicked mind only saw the two options: flee or fight. And it wasn't just himself. No way could he live with the guilt of running out on somebody in trouble, even if it meant they both ended up meat in a wolf's stomach.

Pain lanced through his arm and Dragon felt all the strength draining from it. Tears popped up in his eyes but he tried to keep a cool head, even as the wolf shook its head from side-to-side, as though it wanted to rip the arm right out of the socket. Preoccupied with Dragon, it didn't seem to notice Kinley until Kinley's foot landed against its ribs. It let go--to snarl--and made as if to lunge at Kinley.

Dragon hurled himself at the animal with a wild cry, seeing only Kinley in danger. He didn't know if all of his powers could be used here, or if they could be accessed through this much weaker human form. Already, his power of flight had been taken from him, forcing him to walk on stick-like legs. He couldn't see in the dark and he was prey to heat and chill.

"NO!" he shouted at the wolf as they went tumbling, forcing its slavering, snapping jaws away from his throat. The jacket's buttons popped with the violent movement and Dragon felt something hard and painful scraping across his back. Probably some rocks and twigs. He jerked his head away in the nick of time; sharp teeth snapped at the space where his ear used to be. Kicking out with his legs, he tried to push the animal off of him but its weight was suffocating him and pressing him down.

Then, suddenly, a sharp noise cracked the air. With a queer shudder, the wolf convulsed and then went frighteningly still, with its head lolling gently to one side.

It was hard to fight anything in the dark, when all he could see were shapes and shadows. Still, he managed to connect his foot with the wolf. He knew it was crazy. Insane. He probably shouldn't even be risking his life for somebody he barely knew. The thought of not doing anything was too sickening, though. When he was a kid, he was that dumb kid who watched everything in silence unless it came to something important, like somebody trying to pick on his little brother. Pick on him, fine. Pick on other people... not so fine.

"Get off him!"

He was about to follow the tumbling pair when something... happened. Kinley dropped to one knee beside Dragon, hand hitting the ground hard, touching something warm and wet. Shivering, he lifted his hand to see it covering it. He could smell it, thick in the air. In the dark, it was hard to tell what color it was but he knew it was blood. He tried to wipe it on his jeans, shaking from the rush of adrenaline working its way through his veins. He assumed what he'd heard was a gunshot but he was preoccupied by Dragon.

The wolf that had landed atop him had stopped moving and it was heavy as Kinley pushed it as hard as he could, then sank down on his heels right next to Dragon's side.

"Are you okay? Dragon?"

"Kiney!" It was a breathless gasp. Dragon could barely breathe with the animal on top of him, and with one arm bitten and torn he could only use one to shove at the corpse. It was dead; he smelled the fresh blood in the air and it turned his stomach as much as it excited part of him. It was the darker side of him that reveled in the fight and the scent of blood. Dragon tried not to dwell on it and focused, instead, on the shadowy figure beside him.

Dragon reached out with his good arm and latched onto Kinley's hand. He sat up and his head felt woozy for a moment. "Kiney?" Quickly he looked around but nothing else came out of the darkness. Where did that sharp, loud noise come from? Who dispatched the animal? No one came forward to identify themselves as their savior.

Slowly, he tried to stand. "Kiney..." His tone was urgent. They needed to get away from this spot, in case there were other dangerous beasts hanging about. Dragon took an unsteady step toward the stream, tugging on Kinley's hand. Even if Kinley was injured--and Dragon dearly hoped not--they still had to get away. Injuries could be tended to later, but escaping with their lives was more important now!

"Yeah?"

He asked out of habit, then remembered that Dragon hardly knew enough words to answer him. Only yes or no questions would work with him and even then, there was no telling how much he actually understood. Remembering the situation with the pants and the misunderstanding surrounding them, he was going to guess that at the moment, Dragon's understanding of his language wasn't enough to understand half of what he said. So he settled for forcing himself to get up off the ground along with Dragon, recognizing the urgency in his voice.

"We gotta get out of here," he said, agreeing with the tone. "Wolves like to hunt in packs, right?" Not expecting an answer, he answered himself," Right."

First he looked as far as he could down the stream, then the other way, the way the wolf had come from. Then he tugged Dragon along with him in that direction. But as they moved, he noticed that Dragon walked unsteadily--the hard rocks beneath them probably were impeding his progress. Looking back again, as if expecting the dark lump that used to be a wolf would be gone (it was still there), he quickly crouched and patted himself on the back.

"Come on. Get on." Kinda funny, actually, a human telling a dragon to hitch a ride on his back when it should've been the other way around.

The going was rough but Dragon persisted, especially since now there was real and actual danger. The female earlier? Nothing compared to a wild animal! Dragon nearly slipped a few times on the glistening pebbles and mud near the creek's edge, hurting his feet on more jagged pieces of stone, but he doggedly kept on going, hoping that he wasn't holding them up, praying that the wolf didn't have friends.

"Huh?"

He stopped short as Kinley stopped suddenly and went into a low crouch. Dragon didn't know what he wanted until he patted his back. He stared. "No Kiney!" Carry him? Get on his back? Dragon was mortified. Was he that slow? Could Kinley run faster without him holding them up? Dragon looked over his back but no shadowy figures were in hot pursuit--yet.

Then, another sharp crack rent the air and he jumped. He jumped and nearly cannoned into Kinley, and had to scramble to stay upright. No time to be proud now! Dragon leapt onto him, hugging him close and burying his face against the side of Kinley's neck briefly. "Kiney..." He wanted to apologize, to say that he was sorry for being useless in this form, but... he didn't have the words--only the contrite tone.

"Yes! Just do it!"

His heart nearly beat straight out of his chest at the sound of what might have been a gunshot somewhere behind them. Was somebody really killing wolves out here right now? If they were, they seemed not to care much if they hit a couple of innocent guys hanging out in the area. So close to the school, too. Was he going to have to tell his mother about this? No way would she let Kero keep attending a school where somebody could shoot a kid on accident. Then again... this was during the night... and further into the woods than most kids would ever be at this time of night, at that.

Still, he didn't like the idea of people with firearms any more than he liked the idea of a pack of wolves finding them and hunting them down.

"It's okay," he said softly, turning his head toward Dragon's cheek. He doubted most people would want to take a ride on his back, let alone a dragon that probably normally... er. Well, not knowing where Dragon came from or how he lived before this (did he always live in a card, for example?), Kinley couldn't say if he was pulling Dragon into the mud. For some weird reason, he also felt the need to brush his lips against Dragon's ear. An awkward place to leave a kiss but it already happened before he could think about it. With his face starting to heat up, he started again, this time at a faster pace despite the added weight.

"It's somewhere around here, I think," he murmured, mostly to himself. The stream--if it was the one he thought it was--ran beneath a small footbridge that he used to cross everyday when he walked home from school.

Dragon made a soft noise in the back of his throat as his ear was kissed; that used to be a little-known weakness of his, in his other form. No time for that now, though, as they streaked along the side of the stream. Kinley was much stronger than he looked, honestly. Dragon didn't know if he qualified as heavy but it seemed like Kinley moved even faster while carrying a double load.

It wasn't long before they came across a little bridge, and Dragon pointed excitedly to it if only because it offered a way to cross over to the other side. Hopefully, a side without animals or frightening sharp sounds. The woods had fallen silent again, save for the rustle of leaves and Kinley's breathing.

Dragon tried not to jiggle around too much. He also tried not to throttle Kinley, while holding on tightly--a feat in and of itself, since he didn't know how much pressure was too much. Not knowing how to cheer Kinley on either, Dragon leaned in to imitate what Kinley did earlier and kissed him on what felt like the side of the head.

Mostly, he was spurred on by the thought that something was ever present somewhere behind them. That and the fact that things were looking familiar. Once they crossed this bridge, they'd be in the thinner part of the forest and there would be a dirt road and... and... and there it was! Kinley let out a sound of relief, almost wanting to drop to the ground and kiss it like an overdramatic kid who'd seen it one too many times in a Disney movie. He didn't, of course. Not with Dragon still clinging onto him.

Somewhere, back where they'd come, he heard one last sound. A howl. Forlorn. Did it sound lonely? Sad? Was it calling other wolves? Kinley shivered. At least they were no longer in the heart of those woods. In his relief, he turned toward Dragon with a smile--only to have a kiss land somewhere pretty close to the corner of his mouth. Whoa. He felt his face warming up again. He's probably just doing it because I did it. It wasn't like it meant anything.

"We're almost there," he said, in hushed tones, just in case something followed them out of the woods.

The dirt road lay before him. It wound through various farms. Past the trees they sold for Christmas, past the berries--raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries. Fear no longer gripped his chest, although he was breathing a little heavier now that the adrenaline was draining from him and he was starting to feel the wear and tear of carrying somebody on his back for so long.

Kinley's family lived on an old, renovated ranch. There were a few chickens, all in their coop, and a small vegetable garden his mother maintained more for enjoyment than sustenance. And... much to Kinley's chagrin, there was a police car sitting outside the house, alongside his father's shiny black pickup truck. Kinley stopped, hoping to get a look inside, but all the curtains had been closed for the evening and the door was firmly closed. He knew they looked like a mess, with their hair in disarray, with a bloodied arm and scraped up limbs. Kinley looked down at Dragon's torn up arm and he swallowed hard. Instead of heading into the house, he took Dragon into the barn his mother turned into a workshop and office, where they sat down to do homework or taxes.

Flicking on the lights and closing the door behind them, he finally set Dragon down on the office chair by the desk. He peered down at Dragon's arm, now that he could get a better look at it. Turning his arm over carefully, he let out a breath.

"It looks pretty bad, Dragon. It might need..." He winced. "...stitches."

He reached over to grab a container of alcohol wipes. "This'll probably sting but it'll help. Okay?"

Oops, missed. Dragon blinked as his lips connected with the side of Kinley's face and hoped that the message at least got across, even if the positioning was all wrong. Well, it was hard to see, anyway, and with the way he bounced around on Kinley's back, it was a wonder he didn't stick his lips in Kinley's eye or down his ear.

At least they got out of the woods, though! Dragon let out a happy shout as the trees thinned, and soon they were out in the open and away from the terror of the forest. He took one last look back over his shoulder. Nothing, except the cry of an animal that sounded, to him, mournful. Maybe it had come across the body of the one that had mysteriously died. Maybe that was its mate...

But Dragon couldn't feel too badly for it, since the first wolf had genuinely intended to harm them. He couldn't feel sorry for something that wanted to bite and tear at Kinley, no sir! (Even if it got him instead, making his arm throb and burn miserably.)

Instead of setting him down, Kinley continued to carry Dragon along and Dragon was afraid to wiggle too much for fear of sending them both face-first into the ground. A structure loomed up, light spilling out from behind curtained windows and door. Dragon studied it, hoping that they could enter (he wanted to see what the inside was like) but instead Kinley took him into an adjacent building.

"Kiney?" Dragon's head was on a swivel as he looked around. These objects were foreign to him and he wondered what each of them did. The thing he was sitting on, that was... for sitting on. But what separated its function from the thing beside him, which also had a flat top? Could that thing also be sat on? While he was distracted, Kinley returned with a cylinder.

"Ah--no Kiney. No," Dragon pushed at his hand. He didn't need the cylinder. "No," he repeated, firmly, and then began to shrug off the cloth that sat on his body. Dragon winced as it scraped across the bite marks, but eventually he got it off. The ink was already flowing down from his shoulder, the dragon winding and curling around his arm. Once it reached the bite marks, the ink seeped into the holes and filled them in, and before long the dragon was moving back up his arm again, leaving the skin smooth and whole.

Dragon looked sadly at the scrapes and bruises on Kinley. He could do this for himself but he couldn't do it for Kinley. Tenderly he touched Kinley's knee, above where there was a deep scrape. "Kiney..." Dragon stroked the area, petting it as though he could take away the injury.

"But..." He opened the wipes, but before he could insist on using one, Dragon was peeling off Kinley's jacket. The jacket was pretty much ruined at that point, what with the tears and blood all over it. The jacket mattered very little when he saw Dragon's wound, though. Biting his lower lip, he grasped a wipe and he was even going to try and clean it--but...

"Aiya! ]Magic!" He dropped the wipe he was holding. Not... not what he expected! He should have thought about that, though. Magic. He was a magic dragon. Just like that, the wounds on his arm were wiped away and all that was left was a healed arm. Kinley even ran his hand over his arm in wonder, half in disbelief. But nothing but smooth human skin met his fingertips. Just like that, he healed himself. He smiled, but before anything else could be spoken, Dragon was touching the scrape on Kinley's knee. Now it was Kinley who winced slightly.

Half of him thought Dragon was going to heal it, too. He didn't and the tone in his voice sounded almost wistful, like he wished that he could.

"It's okay," Kinley said with a lop-sided smile. "It's just a scratch."

He stepped on the wipe that landed on the ground, then lifted his leg so he could peel it off and toss it into the small garbage bin under the desk. Since he didn't have extraordinary healing powers, he was just going to have to do things the old fashioned way. He pulled a new wipe out and applied it to his dirty wound, letting out a low hiss of pain.

"Stings..." He laughed through it, though, if only to reassure Dragon he was going to be okay. While he ran it over his leg, he contemplated Dragon, then reached out to try and smooth his hair down. If they looked like normal people, then they wouldn't have such a problem with the cops. "Dragon... You need a proper name, though."

Dragon sighed. He wished that he could heal Kinley too, especially as Kinley winced and then hissed in pain. Dragon half-slid off his seat, foolishly holding out a hand, his own heart aching at Kinley's discomfort. But ah--he was brave and he even smiled, albeit crookedly, filling Dragon with admiration. Dragon frowned and looked down at his hands. Useless hands on a useless body that could do nothing to protect Kinley or even himself.

Looking up at the use of his name, Dragon craned his head into Kinley's touch. He reached up to hold his hand--the one doing things to his hair. "Kiney?" The ink--the living tattoo--moved down his shoulder again, ending at his fingertips, where they met Kinley's skin. But the ink could go no further than that; it pooled, curled, swirled. All of him wanted to touch Kinley, both his physical human body and the dragon that was his other half.

(Sorry short, gotta wooooork)

"Yeah?"

He asked it again--habit. He looked up, though, expecting something. He didn't know what. At first, words. Then some kind of visual explanation. Dragon did his best in relaying whatever he felt, that he wanted to heal Kinley but he was unable to. Kinley saw him attempt to, saw that the marking of the dragon didn't reach beyond the body it was already attached to. Kinley shook his head and lightly patted Dragon on the hand.

"It's fine. Just scratches."

He scraped up his hand, too, so he wiped it with a slight cringe before looking down at the blood smeared all over his pants. That wasn't from him, though. That was from when Dragon had been injured. Now he was good as new but they definitely still looked like they had been through hell and back. After a moment, he reached up and tried to smooth out his own hair, too. There wasn't much he could do about the state of their clothes but they could at least look like they hadn't rolled all over kingdom come before showing up.

"We have to go inside sometime," he said, mostly to himself. He didn't want to keep worrying his parents or Kero... Hopefully Kero was home by now. Instead of going inside, though, he perched on the edge of the desk. After everything that happened, he wanted nothing more than to flop into his bed and sleep for 12 hours straight. His parents definitely weren't letting that happen. After Kaiden, they were super on the ball about everything--they didn't want what happened to him to happen to Kinley or Kero next.

"Are you hungry?" he asked Dragon. Then made an eating motion. "Thirsty?"

Nodding, Dragon pulled his hand away. The ink crept back up his arm, sluggishly--disappointed that it couldn't help Kinley. While Kinley perched on the flat surface--aha! So it was suitable for sitting on!--Dragon sank back down in the chair. He rested an arm against the edge of the table beside him and laid his head down on the arm, resting, finally coming down from their ordeal earlier.

Only his eyes swerved up to look at Kinley when he spoke again, then made a scooping motion towards his mouth. Dragon frowned. They needed a better way to communicate! This was getting irritating. He was normally so expressive, and being hindered by the language barrier was utterly frustrating.

Instead of responding, Dragon lifted his head and looked around. He saw a stack of paper nearby and his eyes lit up. "Ah!" Reaching for the topmost one, he laid it flat on the table. The ink slid down his arm, to his fingertip, and then transferred onto the page; he traced the paper, drawing a figure--a sinuous, long dragon. "Dragon," he said, looking up at Kinley. That was him. The dragon on the paper began to move too, shifting, changing into a human shape.

Dragon moved his finger to another part of the paper and drew another human figure. The two humans came together--himself and Kinley--and ran to the edge of the page where trees blossomed and sprang, depicting them running into the woods. If they couldn't speak to one another, they could draw!

Dragon reached for Kinley's hand and moved it down to the paper. An inky dot appeared where Kinley's fingertip touched the paper, waiting to be crafted into a shape.

"I can't--" he started to say but even as he spoke, there was ink on the page, from his finger. He knew that Dragon was responsible for the improved artwork but somehow, it was different when it was coming straight from his finger to the page. Not even knowing if Dragon would understand what it meant even if he saw it in artwork form--how did dragons eat? And what did they eat?--Kinley attempted to show Dragon what he meant by his question. When he thought of eating, he naturally thought of people at a table, so that was what appeared, two people around a table, eating.

But how did that translate for Dragon?

Kinley looked up, cocking his head slightly to the side. Did dragons even get hungry? All Kinley knew about dragons hinged on fairy tales, which didn't paint them in the best light. But there were also good dragons, like luck dragons. Personally, he thought his dragon had marked a moment of fortune in his life. Not in money but definitely it felt like things looked up since he'd arrived. Appeared.

There were so many more questions he was dying to ask. Who drew him? Did he draw himself onto the card? Was he sealed on the card and how did he come out of it? And why? But for the moment, he kept it simple. Food. Water.

Hmm... two humans sitting at a table, bringing things to their mouths. Dragon studied the little drawing for a long minute, brows furrowed in concentration. He and Kinley were at a table similar to the one in the drawing... but they weren't putting things to their mouths with sticks. Or what appeared to be sticks, anyway, that the inky people were using to poke at the table before bringing it to their mouths.

"Hmmmm... no." Whatever that was, Dragon didn't want it.

He passed a hand over the people at the table, dissolving the ink to make way for a figure--Dragon--laying curled up. Rest. Sleep. Dragon was tired and he wanted to lay his head somewhere. With Kinley? ...maybe. He wanted to curl up with Kinley. Another figure joined the first; they were twined together, in each other's arms.

Dragon lifted his head to study Kinley, noting how tired he looked, how roughed up despite his attempts to smooth down his hair. "Kiney. Dragon." He pointed to the figures on the page, then at Kinley and himself.

Although Dragon seemed to give it thought, apparently food wasn't appetizing to him. Kinley wouldn't say he was hungry at the moment, either. They just ran for their lives. He might have been thirsty. But most of all, he was tired. Dragon's thoughts seemed to be in the same place and Kinley started to nod, mostly to himself since Dragon was looking down at the page as he drew. Then the lone sleeping figure was followed by another one and Kinley rubbed the back of his neck. The two figures weren't doing anything other than lying together.

"I get it," he said with a tired half smile as he reached out to take Dragon's hand in his to lower it.

The office/workshop wasn't a place to sleep, though. It was full of nothing but hard surfaces and uncomfortable chairs. The most comfortable thing in the room was the office chair Dragon currently occupied and it was definitely not big enough for the both of them, let alone for them to sleep on it. Letting out a sigh, Kinley stretched a leg out in front of him, looking down at the torn up jeans and the mostly clotted scrape wound.

"We have to go inside," he said. "And answer a bunch of questions."

But he agreed--all he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a while. Too bad his bedroom was on the second floor. While Kinley did occasionally sneak out to hang out with his friends, that was done on his own and not with somebody who could barely walk straight, let alone climb up through a window. They could try breaking in through the laundry room and sneaking upstairs... Tempting though it was, he knew he had to just bite the bullet and go home. He made himself stand, tugging gently on Dragon's hand.

"Come on..."

Ah, Kinley understood. His tired smile mirrored Dragon's. Turning his hand, he held on to Kinley and studied the paper; the image was fading away since they no longer supplied ink to keep it around. What he wouldn't have given to find a nice, soft spot to curl up in with Kinley. Back home, Dragon's nest was comfortable. He would wind around and around, nestling himself into it--alone.

Not being the biggest or the most powerful of his kind, Dragon wasn't looked upon favorably by females. He was a runt, the smallest and weakest of his family. While his brothers and sisters grew up to be powerful, mighty beasts, he stayed small. There wasn't much of a future for him, until he was drawn into another dimension and put to use. He didn't know what the master had planned for him, but he was happy to be useful to someone.

He was glad, though, that Kinley picked him up. Just about anyone could have laid hands on the card but fate chose Kinley, and here they were. Dragon shifted to be closer to Kinley, questioning the pull on his hand with a bemused noise. He stood up and stepped closer to Kinley. Were they going somewhere? Somewhere safe, to sleep?

"Kiney..." Dragon's hand tightened in his. He remembered the feel of Kinley's lips on his ear--it tickled a little but it felt good. It felt like a gesture of affection, of comfort. Dragon knew that Kinley was worried--it showed on his face. There was reluctance there too, and the kind of weariness that ran bone-deep. Now it was Kinley who needed comforting, he thought. After a mild deliberation, Dragon leaned in. He missed the first time, so hopefully the second attempt went better.

His mom was going to kill him. She was probably going to be livid that he worried her. By now, she probably got some kind of crazy story about sex (whoops) and lies and some crazy naked guy and the woods. It didn't help that the woods had some hunter guy in it, apparently shooting angry wolves. They could have been shot, too! Although now he saw why Dragon might have wanted to play protector... he could heal himself. Still! One--Kinley didn't know that at the time. And two--he still couldn't imagine leaving somebody in danger while he ran off. He might be a lot of things but he was first and foremost, a stubborn and willful brat. His mom always said as much as he grew up.

Kaiden used to be the protector in the family, before he got mixed up in what was probably cult business. Then he disappeared and left Kinley to pick up the slack. It gave him a chip on his shoulder and only exacerbated the need to do something when the situation presented itself.

"Hm?" He got the feeling maybe Dragon didn't want to go. Maybe he knew what was in store. Kinley looked back at him, not sure how he was going to deal with it but certain he wasn't going to let the authorities haul him off. He'd just say something like... he was an exchange student and friend who was supposed to stay over or something. Dance class. Something. He didn't know--he was tired.

His gaze followed Dragon as he leaned in. Oh. Before he could turn his head, lips brushed his ear. Kinley didn't fully understand why he kissed his ear, though. Was it because he didn't turn his head all the way in time? Or was it because of his weird kiss earlier, in the dark? He didn't know what possessed him to do it but he raised his free hand to Dragon's face to gently move his head so that they were face to face.

"Kiss." His fingertips brushed Dragon's lips before he slipped his hand along his jaw and leaned in to kiss him properly.

Was it the right place to kiss? Dragon felt a kind of accomplishment at the fact that he got Kinley's ear this time around, although judging by the reaction, he surprised Kinley more than he comforted him. With Kinley guiding his face, it was impossible to look anywhere else but at him. Dragon felt an odd lump in his throat when their eyes met.

Even despite the language barrier--and it was a giant barrier--there were some things that just didn't need to be voiced. Things like the flutter of anticipation in his chest, or the swell of affection that rose up inside. Things like the way his body instinctively reacted, hands lifting to land on Kinley's hips and his own legs taking him forward, closer.

"Kiss," he repeated in a soft whisper, lips moving against fingertips. What he did was a kiss. What Kinley did was a kiss. What...

What was this, though? This union of lips? Dragon's eyes opened wider, blinked rapidly. He didn't know what to do when Kinley's lips parted against his, and his fingers flexed against his hips. This new experience seemed to amplify the feelings of two whole seconds ago. It was like an explosion, but inside of his stomach. Dragon's lips parted uncertainly as his heart throbbed and ached sweetly to the kiss.

He supposed that was what it was. Kiss. There had to be all kinds of kisses--but this kind was probably going to be his favorite.

A kiss could be a lot of things. There were friendly pecks on the cheek, affectionate kisses to the shoulder or throat, motherly kisses, and sloppy drunk kisses. Thoughts on kisses changed and evolved over time, too. When Kinley was a toddler, he used to giggle and writhe when his mom kissed him a thousand times, recognizing that it was love from mother to son. When he was five, he thought kisses were gross. He remembered struggling out of his mother's arms when she drew him in for unexpected kisses. After that, his mother reserved kisses for his birthday or for when Kinley was going away on a trip to see his grandparents or family who lived far away. Kisses sort of faded out of his mind for a long time after that.

When he was eleven, he grew curious about kisses with the opposite sex and sometimes the scenes from movies made him think about it more. When he was twelve, he kissed a girl for the first time. It was nothing more than lips against her cheek for a few seconds and he probably could have lit up half the town with the heat his face generated afterward.

Once, he was self conscious and embarrassed about kissing girls but like he told Kero, practice made it a lot less scary. Asking girls out was a nerve wracking event. There was a square dance the last week of sixth grade and he remembered how half the boys in class were way too embarrassed to ask any girls out. But the girls were waiting for them to do the asking. Some of the guys said it was unfair that girls didn't have to but Kinley thought... why were they all so scared? They were just girls, right? The worst they could do was say no. (Although he had to admit, when he walked up to that first girl, he imagined all sorts of things might happen, like she might spit in his eye or kick him in the crotch and tell all her friends.) But she said yes.

Dragon didn't say yes (that would have been weird, in context) but he did kiss him back. There was an uncertainty to his kiss. Dragons probably didn't do a whole lot of kissing; he guessed that maybe Dragon thought the affectionate gesture earlier was how it was normally done and he wanted to respond in kind. Or to relay some sort of feeling that he associated with the action. Kisses sort of spoke for themselves in a way that words never could. And despite his inexperience, Dragon didn't kiss like a fish.

As the kiss ended, he slowly and reluctantly moved his head but his fingertips lightly stroked Dragon's cheek. There were a lot of things he wished he could say or communicate to Dragon. Like how his mom wouldn't be okay with this if she saw it. Or how it had only been maybe a year since he really started to explore the idea of being with the same sex instead of the opposite sex. Maybe it was a good thing; he didn't have to explain the Facebook video to him or the threats his mother made or how deeply things changed when people exchanged kisses. Instead of any of that, he only whispered a word he was pretty sure Dragon understood: "Beautiful."

How did Kinley know when to stop the kiss? Dragon didn't know but he was along for the ride anyway, letting his eyes drift closed (since Kinley's eyes weren't wide open and staring). It felt a little more surreal when he closed his eyes, though. There was nothing else but the kiss when he closed his eyes; no other stimulus than the soft lips and tongue.

Dragon didn't know how to breathe and kiss, though. He would have pulled back simply out of lack of air had Kinley not moved back first. Dragon inhaled deeply; it filled his lungs with air but his head was already light and dizzy, floating back up in the clouds. He wanted to say any number of things--about how the kiss made him feel, about how Kinley made him feel, but he had no words.

Except the one Kinley used.

For a moment, Dragon couldn't even look him in the eyes. He gazed down at Kinley's collarbone, smiled at it as he felt ridiculously pleased with himself. This kiss thing--this was a thing he approved of.

"Beetiful." No, wait. That was the wrong one. Dragon nuzzled against Kinley's hand. "Beeyootiful. Kiney." It really was Kinley who was beautiful, and who showed Dragon a beautiful way to express himself. He stepped forward, one hand lifting to lightly grasp the front of Kinley's shirt. "Kiss?" Dragon tugged on the shirt to try and bring him closer again. "Kiss?" Another one... perhaps?

Just--for research.

Cute could have worked, too. Dragon's smile was definitely cute even if he couldn't look Kinley in the eyes after the kiss. The point was, he was smiling. And what a cute smile it was. He found himself thinking back to when Dragon first appeared... naked and pure as the driven snow. When he first saw him, he thought he was the most beautiful man he ever met. But before that, even, he thought the dragon on the card was beautiful. He used to say it all the time. Beautiful. Beautiful dragon. He was in complete awe after he realized it also moved, danced along the card's edges. It was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

He never thought he would use magic to leave the card and become a person, though. He just thought they were friends, of a kind. Kinley enjoyed the abilities Dragon gave him. It made Kinley wonder now if he could impart any of his own skills onto to Dragon. Maybe he'd like dancing. But that was getting way ahead of himself. In the moment, there was still the sticky situation of bringing him home.

Maybe he should have saved the kissing part for later, after Dragon understood when it was okay and when it wasn't. At the moment, it was okay, though. It was just the two of them in the office--and it was awfully hard to say no when somebody like Dragon tugged on him and pulled him in closer. (And making it obvious what he wanted from him.)

"Okay," he acquiesced. There was no resolve there to break, anyway. He leaned in to close the space between them, his lips meeting Dragon's again.

O-kay! Whatever that meant. Yes? It seemed to have a similar meaning, since Kinley did what Dragon asked. The second kiss wasn't as awkward as the first, if only because Dragon knew what was going on now. He couldn't seem to control his voice, letting out a hum purely from the pleasure of being close to Kinley, but overall he thought that he did much better the second time around.

Air, though, was still a tricky thing to manage. Dragon pulled back this time, gasping, but smiling, breathlessly excited. Kiss. He'd remember that word. Kiss. Whenever he wanted one he would ask Kinley; it seemed like a favorable request rather than an unpleasant one.

"Kiney..." Dragon's tone was affectionate--maybe a little amorous. He tried to curl around Kinley again, both arms and even a leg wrapping around him. Ugh, but this body. It was so uncooperative. Dragon blew out a sigh and then froze as sounds of voices could be heard outside. One of them sounded familiar. It was screeching Kinley's name, the noise getting louder and louder.

"Ahh!" Spooked and thinking that they were under attack, Dragon dove under the table and tried to take Kinley with him.

Kinley smiled as Dragon tried once more to wrap his limbs around him. Now that he'd seen the dragon dancing about on the paper, it served as a reminder. He was pretty sure when Dragon did that, it was more than a simple hug. It was sort of like... Well, he didn't need to think about it. At the very least, he knew it was most certainly a positive thing so he wrapped his arms around Dragon in turn.

"So is this like--"

His words dropped as he also heard the voices outside. His eyes widened and he briefly stared at Dragon... a few seconds before Dragon immediately bolted beneath the desk to hide. Not just himself, either. He pulled Kinley down with him... just as the office door opened so hard that it actually hit the back of the wall and probably left a sizable hole in the wall. Kinley awkwardly sat up and stared up at Kero and then his mother, behind him. Bringing up the rear was his father and a cop. Kinley stared up at all of them, taking in the varying degrees of concern and anger on their faces.

"Where have you been?" his mother asked, looking like she'd been pulling out her hair. It was frayed and flying all over the place, which wasn't usual when she was usually so put together. "How long have you been home? When were you going to bother letting us know you were back? We've been looking for you all evening, you know!"

It was the young human male from before, and strangers that Dragon didn't recognize. He cowered underneath the desk because the female had a Look remniscent of the other female, from back near the woods. Dragon was beginning to think that all females were like this. Good thing Kinley wasn't; he didn't think he could handle it if everyone was fierce like the female who came charging in.

The young male made a run for Kinley, throwing his arms around him. Dragon bristled. That was--that was what he was trying to do earlier! Was this male trying to compete with him for Kinley's kiss?! He crawled out from under the table, looking indignant, but then faltered when every set of eyes turned on to him.

Dragon was naked from the waist up. The protective cloth that had once been on his body was on the floor, bloodied and torn from their wild run through the woods and from the animal's attack. Dragon froze, like a deer in the headlights.

"...who is this?!" The female demanded, staring at Dragon, who immediately shuffled to hide behind Kinley.

"Kiney..." He latched on to the back of Kinley's dirty, stained shirt.

"Heeeey," he said, oh-so-casually to Kero as he latched onto him so fiercely, it felt like he was velcroed to his side. Yeah, he could tell he worried everybody because every single one of them were staring. Even more so when Dragon made his appearance... without his shirt on. Wearing Kinley's sweatpants and absolutely nothing else.

"Um... mom... this is... um. His nickname is Dragon. He's a foreign dancer from class."

He was somewhat proud of his lie. Well except the Dragon part. He could tell his mother didn't like the idea of being introduced to somebody by their dance name or their hiphop/b-boy name. She wanted proper names. Well. He couldn't think of any right off the top of his head. If he was good at naming things, then Dragon would have had a better nickname from the start.

Things definitely looked bad, though. His gaze moved over to Kero, wondering how much had been said and what was relayed back to their mother. If anybody here looked like a dragon, it was her. She looked fit to start breathing flames at any second.

Instead of going back to his real name--which he could tell was his mother's next question, he hastily added, "We were playing around in the forest by the school, just kinda... horsing around." He wanted to talk about the wolf and the shots but he decided against it; if his mother was mad now, she'd have litters of kittens knowing how they dangerously threw themselves into the path of a wolf and hunters.

In circumstances like these, Dragon knew that it was just better to shut up and let the one with the mastery of the human language do the explaining. He tried to shrink out of sight behind Kinley, wishing that he could still vanish, the way he could when he was in his other form. The female's skeptical look fell on him and he felt like he had done everything wrong up to that point in time. Was that her power? To make people feel guilty? Dragon wouldn't have put it past her.

"Kin," the young male hissed, just loud enough for Dragon to hear, "why did you guys run off?! Mrs. Briggs had to bring me home and she told mom everything!"

He peered around Kinley at Dragon, eyes growing wide. Dragon didn't know if that was a menacing look or an owlish, curious one but he narrowed his eyes back at the young male in case he had designs on Kinley. He still hadn't even let go yet, something which annoyed Dragon.

"Inside the house, both of you, now." The female pointed to the door. "And you... Dragon. Go on home! I'm sure your parents are worried about you too!"

Dragon gaped blankly at her, not understanding anything except his name. He pointed to himself. "...Dragon..." The look she gave him was most Unamused.

Everything? His heart dropped as he stared at Kero, who probably also had a lot of questions for him.

Now that he looked at his mom, he could see the fury burning in her eyes when she looked at him but especially when she looked at Dragon. He knew what she was thinking, too--that he corrupted her baby. But see the thing was, if anybody corrupted anyone, it was definitely the other way around. Dragon was pure and innocent. Anybody could see it in him. But his mother didn't. She saw somebody who was making her child into something she didn't want to accept. Kinley could only imagine the anger when she had been told her son had been caught with a naked boy. Even more so when she learned that Kinley claimed they were having sex.

Why, oh why did he say that? Did he really think it wouldn't get back to his mom? All he could think about was how Mrs. Briggs couldn't ever put him back into detention. His gaze slid over to Dragon and he half stepped in front of him, like he could shield him from his mother's angry thoughts.

"Actually, mom... I ah, I promised him he could stay overnight. And he doesn't have parents here."

"You did what?" the female hissed, spitting fire and brimstone out of her eyes. She glared at Kinley and at Dragon with such ferocity that it made Dragon step forward a pace, in case she lunged at them or tried to hurt Kinley. Dragon didn't understand what was going on but he knew that the female was angry, and angry females were liable to spring unexpectedly.

"No." The note of finality in her voice was crystal clear. "He is not staying overnight. Young man, go home, wherever you're staying."

Dragon shook his head dumbly; he was trying to tell her that he didn't understand her but she didn't seem to get the message. Her face flushed a deep red--an angry red. "No," he said softly and plaintively, meaning to apologize. No, he didn't want to upset her further or to make the situation worse but... Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.

Even the young male gasped, finally letting go of Kinley. "K-Kin, just... make him go home!" He whispered, looking frightened.

His mom was angry. Kero was upset. But Kinley set his jaw.

"I told him he could stay. He's tired--"

"I don't care what you told him, Kinley. He's not staying."

"But he has nowhere else to go!"

"That isn't my problem!"

And then his father stepped in. He entered the office, his anger nowhere near the same level as his wife's. He was still angry, though. Kinley could tell by the way he slipped his hands into his pockets--it was to stop him from tearing into them. His dad had a habit of digging at his cuticles when agitated. For the most part, he was a calm man, though, so it was hard to tell what he was really thinking.

"Your mother told you to get in the house. Get in the house. Your friend isn't staying."

Kinley stared at him. It felt more final coming out of his mouth. Kinley could argue with his mother until he was blue in the face but his father wouldn't argue. He wouldn't let his anger get the best of him like his wife. The two could be hell to deal with when Kinley wanted something they were both dead set against him having. But in this case, he was dealing with a person who had literally nowhere else to go. He could feel his heart beating too hard, and he felt so, so sick to his stomach. No part of him liked fighting with his family but he also couldn't just go in the house and leave Dragon to whatever was out there.

"No," he said finally, slipping his hand in Dragon's and going for the door. "I'll just go somewhere else."

"Oh no. No, no you won't!" His mother stood in front of him, guarding the door. "You are not doing this! You aren't walking out on us just like your brother!"

"I'm eighteen! I can legally go anywhere I want now, mom!"

Kero didn't know what was going on but he didn't like it. And he didn't like the guy that Kinley was hanging out with, who was half-naked and wearing what looked like his brother's sweatpants. He especially didn't like everybody fighting and the more that Kinley argued, the angrier their parents got. He looked up at mom and dad, who both looked like they were going to ground Kinley for 900 years. Mom just about had fire shooting out her ears and even dad looked grave and angry--angrier than Kero had seen him in a long while.

"Kin, c'mon..." Kero tugged on his brother's other hand to stop him from stomping out. "Don't. Don't leave!"

What was the big deal anyway? What was with this new guy and why did Kinley need to leave with him? Couldn't the guy... come back in the morning or something? He didn't even look all that special. Kero thought that he looked stupid, with that confused look on his face, stumbling forward with Kinley while Kero hung on to his other hand, pulling him backwards.

"Kinley Sima! Don't you dare talk back to us like that!" Their mom was shouting, still blocking the door. Even her hands had balled into fists by her sides and Kero saw that they were shaking. He heard how upset she'd been when Kaiden left home...

"Kiney..." The stupid Dragon guy sidled even closer to Kinley. Now he looked like he was going to cry or something. Well, maybe not cry, but he looked upset and bewildered. It wasn't even like it was hard to understand--nobody wanted him here!

"I..."

He promised Kero a lot of things, too, like not disappearing on him like Kaiden did to them. While Kinley was usually exasperated by his brother's need to be just like him, he recognized it. Kinley used to want to be just like Kaiden before him. Then things went to hell when Kaiden left, not even telling anybody what was going on or where he was going. Kinley didn't want to be the same thing that left him bitter.

But he also promised Dragon. Not in so many words but... Kero had a home and Dragon didn't. And Kinley had a feeling the only reason Dragon was even here was because of him. It would be way too cruel to shut the door in his face and tell him to try and fend for himself, especially in a world he didn't understand. Kinley wasn't going to disappear, anyway. He'd tell Kero everything the minute he had the chance!

Kinley fell silent. They were trapped in the office unless he pushed his mother aside. He couldn't imagine doing something like that; it was bad enough he was arguing with her.

"He doesn't have anywhere else to go," he said, in a softer tone.

"This is not up for discussion, Kinley." Their father spoke, in his low, even, measured tones--the most dangerous kind of stern tone. Kero heard it the time he was fooling around with a friend, and they decided to climb up onto the roof of the barn that was now used as the office. He almost broke his neck when he fell off; luckily, all he did was break his leg. It hurt, too!

Kero looked from his brother to his parents, then back to his brother. "Tim!" he blurted out before he thought. Didn't Tim's parents take in strays? That was how Evie showed up and they took her in! If the guy really had no place to stay (did he really really have nowhere else to go though? Was he a hobo?) then Kero thought that Tim's parents might be more sympathetic.

"Kero." His mom's voice made Kero shrink too, the way Dragon did.

"Sorry," Kero said quickly, but gave his brother's hand an encouraging squeeze.

Tim? Kinley threw Kero a look. Why was he shouting about Tim right now? Oh. Right... Evie. Tim's parents weren't nearly as weird about taking in strays. They worried about Evie, but since there were no reports of a missing girl, they thought it was better to keep her within sight... for whenever her parents did start looking for her. Why couldn't his parents be more like that? Why did they have to be so dead set against somebody staying over night? ONE night, even?! (Although surely it wouldn't be just one night...)

Now he wished he'd never come home--and he thought of Kaiden and wondered if this was how it all went down between him and their parents. Or if he just slipped away one night, knowing that it would come down to this? Kinley was aware--and resentful--of the fact that Kaiden leaving was what left his parents twisting the collars tighter around their remaining sons.

Kero, however, didn't know about the argument that blew up between Kinley and his mother about the video Tim's friends posted online. He'd been tagged in it, so naturally, it showed up on his timeline and when his mom saw it, she was... unhappy, to say the least. She probably wasn't at all pleased to hear Tim's name right now. Still, if it would get them off his back, maybe. He didn't like it, didn't like the idea at all. But if he could get out of the office, it would be nice. He could do whatever he wanted after that. His mom couldn't be there all the time to watch him like a baby.

"Are you at least going to let me call Tim?"

Their parents turned to one another to discuss the situation, while Kero strained to hear what they were saying. Their mom still seemed dead set on not letting Kinley out of her sight, but their dad was a little more lenient, Kero thought. Eventually they turned back, both parents' faces grim and displeased.

"All right. Let Tim come and pick him up, but you are not leaving the house tonight."

Kero looked back at the weird Dragon guy, who still looked comically baffled. He rolled his eyes at him; Dragon narrowed his eyes again. Sheesh. What a weirdo! And Kero thought Andy was weird, but man, this guy took the cake!

"Tim said he would come get him," Kinley said, after a quick exchange with Tim on the phone. Rather than call him, he texted--because his parents were right there and they would hear all the things he wanted to say. He still felt like there were a lot of things he wanted to say, things he wanted to ask. Because... because it was obvious that Tim had things to say, too. He knew something about magic, about the supernatural in Hazleton.

Kinley wasn't typically quick to anger but anger simmered beneath his mostly calm demeanor as he waited. He was angry with his parents. He was frustrated. He didn't feel like an adult, like the adult he was supposed to be. He turned eighteen but nothing changed; they still treated him like he was Kero's age. He wasn't! Now that he was an adult, he should have the freedom to do what he wanted with his life.

Part of him was scared, though. It would be the first time he left home, whenever Tim helped get him out of his room. Eventually, his parents would have to stop eyeballing him and then Tim could help break him out. After that... things got muddy. Kinley did have money saved, mostly because he didn't have a whole lot to pay for. There was no rent with his parents, there was no car. So he mostly tucked away what he made, not really knowing what he was saving for. Maybe a car. That would be helpful. Now he was going to throw it away on a place to stay. A studio apartment, maybe. Unless Tim moved in. Then things might get awkward in such a small space.

Kinley looked over at Dragon. If his parents weren't right there, he might have held his hand or brushed his hand through his hair. Instead, he just sort of... reached out and lightly rubbed Dragon's back in an attempt to make him feel better.

"Dragon," he said, in a low voice, hoping his parents weren't listening but knowing they were. "My friend is going to pick you up." Why was he even saying it? He knew he wouldn't recognize any of those words and he sure as heck couldn't exchange drawings with so many hawk eyes on him.

"Kiney?"

Dragon lifted his head at the sound of his name, having been looking at the ground in lieu of looking at all the people who seemed to not be happy with him or with Kinley. He could tell by the sound of their voices that they were angry, although he couldn't imagine what it was all about. Wasn't this Kinley's home? Or did he trespass and these people wanted to keep them here?

He felt a little better at the back rub but honestly, Dragon just wanted to go. With Kinley. He wanted to go somewhere quiet, where it was only the two of them, and no one was shouting or glaring or looking at him funny. In the tense silence, he could feel his anxiety rising from the uncertainty and the unpleasant newness of this experience.

Reaching out, he curled a hand around Kinley's hand, stepping close to him until their arms brushed side-by-side. He caught the glare from the female but he didn't let go, instead lowering his gaze again to escape her anger. Without being told, he knew that it was all directed at him.

What he didn't expect was for her to move forward and silently take him by the other arm, pulling him forcibly away from Kinley.

Yeah, the back rubbing might have been worse than hand holding. Kinley sort of forgot that Dragon wasn't wearing a shirt so he was basically massaging a stranger in front of his parents. His father didn't seem to mind nearly as much as his mother did. Especially when Dragon took his hand. That seemed to set his mother off more than the back rubbing and she immediately grabbed onto Dragon to pull him away.

"Mom! He doesn't know what you're doing."

Part of him was alarmed because he had no idea how Dragon would respond to that. What if it looked like an attack? What if he took her as a threat? He seemed to do that with Kero a bit for a moment back there. As much as Kinley was peeved at his parents--his mother, really--for overreacting to everything, he didn't want anybody in that office to come to any harm.

"I told you he's a foreigner."

"Go inside the house. Your father and I will stay with Dragon out here until Tim comes to pick him up." Her voice was sharp as a whip crack, brief and terse.

Dragon wrenched his arm out of her grasp, prompting a surprised gasp from her. He glowered and let out a sound like a growl at her, backing up, eyes darting from side to side as he sought for a way out. It did seem like an attack. She was trying to separate them, Dragon understood that, and he wasn't having it.

"G-g-" The small male was trying to say something, his eyes popping nearly out of his head. He was staring at something behind Dragon. Or... at Dragon's back.

Feeling cornered and desperate, Dragon kept backing up until his back hit a wall. His eyes were wild, frightened, and he felt an ugly tightness in his throat. Not anger... but fear. Fear for what these people wanted, for their hostile presence and for the way that they kept glaring at him.

"His BACK!" The small male screeched, pointing at Dragon. "WHAT THE HELL IS ON HIS BACK?!"

"Kero, language!" The male spoke this time, sharply.

"BUT LOOK!"

Kinley stared at his mother. He hated to do it but he was going to have to. He'd have to say no to her because he couldn't leave Dragon alone with them! They were already scaring Dragon, literally until his back was against the wall. Ignoring how Kero's face seemed to pale (he must have seen the ink dragon mark on his back) and the way his parents were reacting, Kinley followed Dragon with concern etched on his face. There was no telling what would happen if they were left alone with him. While Kinley doubted his mother would raise a hand against him--she was never really a violent person, just an emotionally volatile one--he also didn't know how Dragon might react if they kept coming at him with their angry faces and tones.

"You guys are scaring him!"

This time, despite the way his mother burned a hole right through him, he put his arms around Dragon.

"We got lost out there and people were shooting at us and you guys are...!" He bit back the words. There was a reason he was such a skeptic when it came to magic and all that. His parents weren't the biggest believers in town. They passed their lack of beliefs down on them. Talking about magic and dragons and cards was just going to make him look crazy--and it would give them ammunition against him if they decided he might be looney and dangerous.

"He's just scared."

"Shooting at you?!"

Dragon clung to Kinley, his fingertips digging into Kinley's arm--the one around him, holding on to him. He didn't want to be here in an enclosed space with strangers. Even if Kinley seemed calm, and was speaking to these humans, Dragon didn't know them. He didn't know if they were friendly or hostile; if they had abilities that could hurt him and Kinley. Dragon could heal himself but he couldn't heal Kinley, if anything happened to them.

"Kiney..." He gestured toward the door. "Kiney..." Dragon tried to edge towards it, wanting nothing more than to get away. If the female kept guarding it, he would just have to... to do something about it!

"Who was shooting at you, Kinley?" The male and female both looked concerned, shocked. "What are you talking about? Where did this happen?"

Dragon looked over at the youngest male, who was now edging away from him, still pointing and staring at him.

All of these humans were... strange. Different from Kinley.

They weren't nice, he didn't think.

"It's okay," he said to Dragon, who seemed agitated and ready to leave. Kinley couldn't blame him. The way his family was acting was way over the top but... he couldn't say he was surprised. His mother hadn't been pleased when her eyes started to open to Kinley's... er, experimentation phase. As she put it, anyway. It was a phase and she didn't want him destroying his entire life with immature videos of kissing guys when he was drunk or... or whatever she was imagining was happening with Dragon. (If Mrs. Briggs told her "everything" then yes, she thought they were having sex on school grounds, no less.)

"I don't know," he said, his tone softer. "I think they were hunting wolves up there but... it was dark and they might have thought we were... something else."

He glanced over at Kero. He probably had an idea of what he meant since he mentioned the magic to him before. Magic, monsters. He saw the ink on Dragon's back, too. Surely he understood what he was really getting at.

The-the dragon on that guy's back. It was moving.

IT WAS MOVING!

And nobody was even paying attention to him! ...actually that was sorta to be expected. Kero was 'just a kid' and nobody ever took anything he said seriously. He bristled at that, though he was still pretty damn shocked that the weirdo Dragon guy had a dragon tattoo on his back that moved around.

Kero edged further away from him. Spooked didn't even BEGIN to cover how he felt at that moment. He thought--well, he thought magic was for kids. Like parlor tricks and guys pulling candy out of kids' ears. Not... not THAT! It didn't look like it was fake, either. He swore the dragon tattoo thing swerved to look at him with one inky eye.

"M-m-mom..." Kero would've run over to Kinley, except he was holding on to that Dragon guy. Did Kinley know about the tattoo?! He had to though; he and this guy were alone together in the office before everybody noticed the lights on and came rushing out of the house.
M-mom..."

"What is it, Kero?" Their mom sounded distracted. She was half freaking out over... er... the PDA thing and half freaking out over somebody shooting at Kinley.

"M-mom..."

"Up where? Near the school?" Their dad took a step forward, looking Kinley over with a critical eye. "Neither of you boys were hurt, were you?"

"He got... I..." Kinley looked down at his scraped leg. "I tripped when we were trying to get out of the woods, but other than that, we're fine."

Saying that Dragon was bitten wouldn't tell them anything; the wolf bit him, sure. But there was no evidence other than the blood Kinley's jacket--which they never knew Dragon was wearing. And the blood on Kinley's jeans from when he'd wiped a bloody hand on them. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, though, Kinley was fine. And the worst of Dragon's wounds were completely healed over and gone. Still, it was obvious they had been through something, given how their clothes were covered in dirt and leaves.

That or they were doing... something untoward in the woods, which Kinley hoped his mother wasn't thinking. Despite what everybody was thinking, he and Dragon didn't really get to enjoy their alone time together long before something happened. Something always seemed to be happening.

"We're just tired," he said, knowing he sounded and looked it, too. "But yeah, in the woods by the school. It was weird. I think they were just hunting wolves but..." He shrugged slightly. "I didn't want to stick around and find out what they were doing."

"Oh thank goodness!" Both of them looked visibly relieved. The male came forward to inspect Kinley, while Dragon tensed, ready to spring if he made any moves. But he didn't; he only looked them over with a critical eye, while the female put a hand to her chest. Why she did that, Dragon didn't know; these humans had strange customs.

"We're going to have to talk to someone about fencing off those woods," the male muttered to the female. "It's only a matter of time before someone gets lost in there, or something happens."

"Kero, stay out of those woods from now on, understand?" She had turned to the younger male, who was still looking a little shell-shocked. "Kero? What's wrong?"

Before he could reply--he only pointed to Dragon again--a knock came at the door, startling Dragon who clung to Kinley for dear life again. But once the door opened, it was just another human, looking politely puzzled.

"...hi. Kinley wanted me to pick up his friend?" He smiled--no more than a flash--at Kinley and at Dragon.

Surprisingly, Dragon understood him. His mouth fell open slightly. Did-did this human speak dragon's language?!

Yeah, they were going to end up locking up the woods behind more chainlink fences, which would deter some kids... but not all of them. It could even pull more in if they were curious like Kinley. Or troublemakers like some of his classmates had been. Kinley only nodded, though, glad to see his parents were cooling off a little bit. Or his mom was. His dad had never really been all heated up in the first place.

And then he tensed, mostly because Dragon did--until he saw that the newcomer was just Tim. Relief flooded through him, although so did apprehension. How was he supposed to explain everything he needed to explain with so many eyes on him? His parents were going to have a thousand questions and Kero would have a thousand more, saved up until Tim left with Dragon. Kinley cleared his throat and smiled in Tim's direction but he also quickly darted a look toward his mom, to make sure she wasn't glaring daggers at them. Tim had been his friend for a while so... he hoped she wasn't going to be weird forever about a stupid Facebook video!

"Yep!" Kinley looked down at Dragon and lightly ran his hand over his arm. Oh man. How was he going to explain all this to Dragon without upsetting him? He didn't even notice that Dragon already understood Tim. "Dragon... Tim." He pointed at Tim and smiled apologetically at Tim. "Sorry... he's kinda... new at this whole language thing."

Dragon turned to look at the other humans. They were speaking again, but he didn't understand them. But the new person? Why did Dragon only understand him? He blinked at the stranger; the stranger smiled at him. Dragon couldn't help but feel that he knew him, even though he didn't and couldn't know him. He had never laid eyes on him in his life.

But the new person felt a little familiar.

Was he... another dragon? Dragon craned his neck forward to study him, since Kinley's arms were around him and he wasn't letting go of Kinley anytime soon, either.

"Oh it's... it's fine, I'm sure we can mime to each other or something." The new person laughed. "Hi Dragon," he said, rather kindly.

Dragon lifted a hand to wave, uncertainly looking from the newcomer--Tim? they said?--to Kinley. When did Kinley have dragon friends? Were they--special, like Dragon? And what was mime?

"Well, now that Tim's here, your friend can go with him." The female looked Displeased again. She moved forward but the male subtly moved with her, just slightly blocking her way.

"Thank you, Tim," he said, reaching for his wife's hand.

"Oh don't thank me, it's nothing." Tim smiled again--maybe a little mischievously. "Dragon? Do you want to come with me?"

Dragon shook his head. "No."

"Uh... yeah." He gave Tim a sidelong look. Yes, thanks, Tim. It would get his mother off his back a little more for the time being. He was pretty sure she'd be spitting fire when she found out later that he was helping him escape... if all went as planned. But really, Kinley was an adult now! He might know better than his parents but he also kinda thought he did. There were things his mother didn't fully understand about him or his brothers and she never would, no matter how hard she tried. Kinley knew she loved him--there was no doubt about that. But her idea about what was best for him conflicted with what he wanted out of life.

And she couldn't possibly want him to be a Happy Burger employee forever! He shoved the thoughts out of his mind. It was going to be really uncomfortable trying to explain everything to his parents and Kero eventually but... he thought they all loved him enough to forgive him. A part of him was starting to really understand more about Kaiden. He wished he could see him again, to talk to him about all this, to see if this was the kind of thing that drove him away, too.

Looking back over at Dragon, Kinley was pretty sure Dragon was just saying no because he didn't know what was happening. So he moved to stand in front of Dragon and turn his head toward him before placing his hands on his shoulders.

"You have to go with Tim for now." He pointed to Tim again. "Yes. Tim."

Dragon looked at Kinley, wishing with all his heart that he could understand what he was saying because it sounded important. But all he could do was stare blankly.

Yes. Tim. he said. Go with Tim? Go with this new person? Was... Kinley sending him away for good? Dragon searched him, his gaze, trying to understand.

"No... Kiney... no." He clutched at Kinley, at the front of his shirt, and shook his head vehemently. He didn't want to go with Tim. He wanted to stay with Kinley, with the person who drew him into this human world. Dragon only came for him--albeit accidentally, since the portal sucked him in. But Kinley, somehow, was the one who helped to activate the portal.

"No Kiney..."

This was probably the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his relatively short life. It was even harder than having to hear that Kaiden might never come back. Kinley had been so, so angry with him, so upset, so betrayed. Were they not close enough for him to divulge information to his own brothers? When did they become so separate that they couldn't confide to one another anymore? That was partly why Kinley let Kero into more than he should have (probably to his mother's eternal chagrin.)

But it was hard to try and translate the importance of the moment to anybody else, least of all Dragon. It broke Kinley's heart to see him so upset and he'd only really known him for a little while. The thing was, Dragon really didn't know anything but him in this world. If Kinley was somewhere he didn't know, with people he didn't know who spoke a language he didn't understand, he could only imagine how weird it was. Even more scary when he mixed in the thought that Dragon didn't come from a world like this. He couldn't have; he didn't know about pants! Aiya! And his parents were just going to let him go off with a person he knew nothing about? He didn't even dare sneak a glance at them at this point--he was sure his mother was about to grab him by the ear and give him a lecture.

He couldn't even communicate that it was only for a little while... because if he tried, his parents would know before Dragon did--which would only ensure that they kept an eye on him all night. Still, he tried to somehow communicate the fact that it wasn't forever through the way he looked at Dragon. Kinda... not really easy to do, honestly. How did one say I'll be right behind you! without saying it?!

"Yes," he said again, but this time he intwined his fingers with Dragon's. "Okay?"

Dragon didn't know... He didn't know how long the portal would stay closed. Would it open up again and pull him back? Or was it closed forever? Was he to remain here, in the human world, forever? The thought disconcerted him, the uncertainty and the realization that he had nowhere else to go and no one who understood him, if he was to be here forever.

He had yet to speak to Tim, though--not in his native language. If he understood Tim, perhaps Tim understood him... But Dragon didn't want to speak in front of the humans. He knew that humans, as a whole, weren't very understanding of his kind. That was why he couldn't change back into his original form, and why he was reluctant to enter the portal in the first place. It just wasn't time yet for Dragon to do what he was called here to do--by the master, not by Kinley.

His fingers tightened around Kinley's, squeezing hard. Kinley wanted him to go with Tim. And Dragon had to trust him, because he had no one else to trust. Slowly, he lowered his head, swallowing past the fear and anxiety of not knowing what was happening. "...yes." Dragon pulled his hand away and glanced at Tim, who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Come on," Tim said, and reluctantly, Dragon broke away to follow him.

"BUTTHETATTOOONHISBACK! IT'SSTILLMOVING!" The small one shouted again as Dragon stepped away, even though every cell of his body screamed for him to stay with Kinley. Even the dragon on his back slipped over his shoulder, restless, agitated.

"UH." Tim, eyes wide, leapt forward and threw his jacket at Dragon. "Haha! We'd better get going!" He tugged Dragon outside, staying so close to him that Dragon didn't even have a chance to turn and take a last look at Kinley.

He cut his gaze over to Kero, who didn't know when to keep his mouth SHUT. Glowering at him, he tried to make a hushing motion before his mother looked back in his direction. By the time his parents looked at Dragon, there was a jacket hastily covering him up and Kinley let out a small sigh of relief. He waved, although both Tim and Dragon weren't looking and seemed to be preoccupied with getting out of the office. Once they were gone--and it seemed the cop had left at some point--Kinley had no idea when--he was left with just his family.

Slowly, he reached down to grab the bloodied jacket he'd used to cover up Dragon earlier. It didn't look like it was going to be saved, what with a giant hole in the arm and blood everywhere. He balled it up and settled it under his arm. His mother was staring at him, with a look halfway between relief that he was alive and irritation that he just wouldn't do as she wanted him to. His father, on the other hand, seemed deeply contemplative, as if something had occurred to him during the entire exchange.

"Go to your room," his mother said finally, in the silent aftermath. Kinley wanted to ask if he could at least take a shower but he didn't. He only skirted around her and headed to the house. Part of him hoped Tim was still around, that he could just make a break for it and head for the car now. But his parents were pretty hot on his tail and he could hear them telling Kero to get in the house, too.

All in a daze, Kero followed everyone back into the house. He nodded silently when he was told to go to his room by his parents--although the second that he heard them talking downstairs, he silently stole out of his room. Down the hallway Kero crept, pausing occasionally to listen to the conversation downstairs. It was about Kinley, to no one's surprise, though he couldn't make out the subject of it. Mostly it was his mom talking heatedly and his dad speaking quietly.

Tap tap tap!

Kero rapped softly on Kinley's door. "Kin! It's me!" He hissed into the crack at the door, looking fearfully over his shoulder. "Open up!"

He HAD to know about the tattoo! The dragon that moved! Was it connected to the magic card that Kinley was telling him about? Kero had to find out! (And then possibly blab it to everybody he knew, because he didn't know how to keep a secret.)

Once he was in his own bedroom and alone, Kinley grabbed a backpack and started throwing things into it. Clothes, mostly. He figured the rest of his stuff would follow later. He froze midway through packing though. His phone. His stuff. Kero probably had it. Funny that he was thinking of Kero when he heard his voice at his door. His heart immediately leapt into his throat and then beat double time. He threw his backpack over to the other side of his bed, hoping that Kero wouldn't see it when he walked in.

He got up and opened the door to see Kero hunched at the door like he was afraid he'd be caught colluding with Kinley the Criminal. Looking over Kero's shoulder, he didn't see his parents anywhere in the hallway. It sounded like they were still downstairs, probably discussing how long Kinley would be grounded. I'm eighteen, FFS! They can't keep doing this to me! What did he even do wrong, here? He was just trying to help and protect somebody. Why did he have to be snippety with Mrs. Briggs? He couldn't help thinking this would go down a lot smoother had it not been for that.

Closing the door behind Kero after he entered, he plopped down at the edge of his bed. "Listen," he started, not even sure how to get out what he needed to say.

"Thetattoo! ThetattooitwasmovingKinleywhywasitmovindidyouseeit?!?!"

Kero's words came out all in a rush, so fast that he was left breathless after he spit them like bullets at his brother. He collapsed onto Kinley's bed, beside him, looking owlishly up at him. He just couldn't believe it! A real live moving tattoo! A dragon! It looked pretty cool, though. Kero would have liked something like that on his back--so good was he at imitating everyone else. But then he thought about how much that would hurt and he decided nah.

"Kin..." Kero reached over to shake his brother's leg. He thought he saw the strap of what looked like a backpack laying by the side of the bed, but his mind was still reeling about the guy with the moving tattoo. "What was it?!"

"It was..."

How did he explain it? There was a lot of explaining to do, honestly. Kinley started to do so about the card... which was also somewhere... wasn't it? It should be with his phone and his other bag--the one he'd been carrying from dance class. It was probably somewhere downstairs and if he went for it now, he'd only arouse suspicions. Maybe he'd just have to say goodbye to that phone and get a new one.

"Remember how I was telling you about the drawings? The ones that don't look anything like my stuff?" Everybody who knew Kinley knew he was a shitty artist, despite how he and Kero loved to draw their story and share it with the internet trolls that laughed at it. He sprang up--awfully spry for somebody who wanted to collapse and fall asleep at that point--and he went to his desk where he dug out the images he and Dragon had created together.

"I found a tarot card with a dragon on it," he said, "and when I touched it, I could make stuff like this." He showed Kero the pictures in person, the ones that Kero had dismissed as pictures he stole from real artists on DeviantArt. "Anyway, the dragon in that card... it... left the card and it became a person."

"Yeah? The ones you showed me today?" Kero flopped over on his stomach to watch Kinley rummaging through his drawers. "Oooh..." He bounded off the bed and went over to look. Sure looked like somebody drew them, instead of just printing them out. Kero supposed that Kinley could have traced them but what reason would Kinley have to lie to him about it? Sure he might lie to the idiots on the internet, but not to his own brother!

'WHAT?!" Kero's head swung around so hard, he hurt his neck. He swore he heard something crack, even. "He-the-Dragon guy is DRAGON GUY?" It didn't really make sense--and Kero was being overdramatic. Or... under-dramatic? He didn't know if Kinley was pulling his leg at this point or not but Kinley sure looked serious! Kero's chest heaved as he thought about this new development.

"He... that guy came from a card?" He wanted to believe it... but it was unbelievable! Kero dropped the drawings onto the table and sank down into Kinley's chair, feeling a little weak. "B-but. How Kin?!"

"Yeah..." It sounded like bullshit to Kinley as he said it aloud but it was true. He wasn't even sure he'd believe it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He looked down at the drawings as Kero dropped them and then he leaned against the desk, feeling drained and tired all over again. How was poor Dragon right now? Probably scared and nervous. Maybe he thought he would never see Kinley again. At the thought, he felt a stab of guilt in his chest.

"I don't know. I guess magic? People talk about magic all the time but I just thought they were crazy or superstitious." He stared at the wall, most of his mind still focused on Dragon. "But it's true. He came out of the card and it's him. They're one and the same... You saw it, right?" His gaze returned to Kero. "The dragon on his back, it's the same one that was on the card."

Kero frowned. "Magic..." Magic. Magic! It just didn't accord with what he knew about the world. Growing up, Kero knew that all sorts of weird stuff happened in Hazleton but their parents found ways to explain it all away. It was a coincidence, or an accident, or a freak of nature incident, or just somebody pulling a dumb prank. Nobody in this day and age believed in real magic!

But Kero also had no reason to believe that Kinley was tricking him or playing a prank on him. Not with that look in his eyes and not when he had seen, with his own two eyes, that dragon tattoo moving around on the Dragon guy. Kero also wanted it to be real--magic. He wanted there to be demons and monsters that went bump in the night... albeit not ones under his bed. What kid didn't want magic to be real, anyway?

"It was?" He asked, awe-struck. "He really came out of the card? Is that why he was naked?" Kero blinked. "Were you guys really having sex in the woods too?!" Oh yeah--he remembered that, when Mrs. Briggs told their parents about Kinley "being indecent with another boy" on school grounds!

Sure, Kero emulated his brother in everything... but maybe he didn't want to be doing stuff like that right out in the open. Definitely not near the school!

"Heh, yeah," he said with a little laugh, then quickly stared at Kero. Violently, he shook his head. The first part of the question, yes. That applied. The second part--hah... Well, his mother would murder him and bury him and then unbury the corpse just to spit on him if she knew he was talking about sex with his little brother! (Okay, it wouldn't be that bad but he had a real big feeling she didn't want him passing his weirdness down to Kero.)

"No, no, no. I just said that to piss off Mrs. Briggs." Still, he felt his neck and ears heating up at the thought. Adventurous as he often could be, Kinley had never had sex with anybody right out in the open like that and he doubted he'd be adventurous enough to do it any time soon. Especially that place, now that he'd been maybe shot at and poor Dragon had been glommed on by a scary wolf.

"I wasn't undressed, was I?"

"Well... I guess not..." Kero had doubts but he put them aside for now. There were more important things to talk about, like magic! A part of him was getting excited already, thinking about all of the weird things that had happened even in recent weeks, and attributing them to magical causes. Werewolves? Could they be real? And vampires? What about the whispers of witches and potions? Were those REAL?

Before he could babble out his thoughts, though, a tiny tap came at their window. Then another, and another; it sounded like somebody lightly tossing pebbles at Kinley's window. Kero ran to it and lifted it, just as their front doorbell also sounded. "Tim's outside!" He looked at his brother. "I thought he left with that Dragon guy!"

Oh.

Oh. Man.

He was so stupid. His phone was on him the whole time. Because when he heard the tapping at his window, he reached for his phone automatically, and there it was... in his back pocket, where he'd put it... after contacting Tim. He let out a small laugh at himself as he pulled it out, but found that it was dead. Well. No wonder he didn't feel it vibrating or get a warning from Tim beforehand. Letting out a sigh, he followed Kero to the window and he could see that he was right. Tim was there. Kinley heard the doorbell, too.

Who's that? Was it part of Tim's brilliant plan? Because if it was, it was going to backfire majorly when his parents had to come up to get Kero... only to find him with Kinley, who would be trying to make his getaway. Damn! He thought he had more time!

Quickly, he dived for the backpack on his floor and slid it over one shoulder.

"Listen," he said more urgently this time, "I wanted to tell you this earlier but I've gotta go. I'll be back, though. I just... I have to help him. Dragon. He doesn't know anything about this place and he's scared."

"Wh-what? No! What're you doing?!" Kero hissed, latching onto Kinley's backpack. "You can't leave! Mom and dad are gonna kill you!" His eyes widened as he heard voices downstairs--their parents', definitely. Were they getting closer? ...no, just a little louder, as whoever was at the door spoke to them.

"Kero!" Their mom was calling now. "Kero, your friend is here to see you!"

Friend?! Kero's head swerved to the door. He wasn't expecting any friends! Who could it even be?? Another pebble struck the window--this time a little harder. "UH! COMING MOM!" Kero yelled, skittering for the door. Well. Nothing for it now, he had to help Kinley bail out! Even if he hated the thought of being left behind, after Kinley teased him with stories about people popping out of cards and magic.

"You better come back Kin!" Kero shook a fist at Kinley in his indignation, and then quickly slid outside. He ran down the hallway to his room, made a show of opening the door and slamming it shut and ran downstairs to see who his 'friend' was. "Andy?!"

"I know," he said, hissing right back at Kero. His heart thumped harder as he heard their mother calling for Kero. His eyes widened, too--and he stared back at Kero. With his eyes alone, he tried to plead with him to understand. No way was Kinley going to leave him in the lurch forever but he couldn't explain everything right now. There wasn't enough time. Plus... he didn't want Kero getting in trouble for what Kinley was about to do.

He wanted to reach for Kero, to give him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder but there was another pebble and it meant business. There was no more time.

"I'll come back," he said, even if it wasn't for good. He'd come back--he wouldn't just abandon his family. All he wanted to do was make a point and strike out on his own. He didn't want to disown his family and he hoped so fervently that they'd take him back into the family even after all the trouble he was causing.

"Ah..." He stood there for a moment after Kero left, longing to give him a hug. It's not forever, he reminded himself as he slung the other strap over his shoulder and headed for the window. As quietly as he could, he opened it and pushed the screen out. Once it was out of the way, he began the slightly wobbly trek down to the ground.

"That was close," he whispered to Tim as his feet hit the ground. Then he took hold of his arm. "Hurry. Where's your car?"

"I feel like a freaking criminal," Tim grumbled to Kinley as he helped him down to the ground. "It's this way. Dragon's in the back seat. I think he's uh... he spoke to me." He didn't explain how or why. Kinley wouldn't really understand the specifics and Tim didn't want to get into it without prepping him first on the whole world of supernatural beings out there.

"C'mon. I gotta drive you home and then come back for Andy. He's... hopefully not fighting with Kero in there." Yeah, Tim heard about what happened at school. Luckily he got the call from school instead of their parents--and then used the fight with Kero to blackmail Andy into helping him. He hustled Kinley to the car which was parked in front of the house across the street, and then unlocked the doors.

"Wh-what?" Kinley stumbled on the word because what? How? How did Dragon speak to Tim? TO TIM? Maybe he just meant he'd said the words that Kinley taught him. Letting out an embarrassed sound, he buried his face in his hands. Aiya. He told him. Did Tim think he was asking him to kiss him? Ah. I should have explained but I couldn't! Not when his mother was standing right there with her Laser Eyes of Disapproval.

"Yeah..." Looking back at the house, he hoped the same thing--that their brothers were getting along. They tended to do that whole love/hate thing a lot. Or maybe it was just testy little Andy. Kinley felt like Kero was just confused and bewildered every time his best friend got all weird on him. "Thanks, man. I really owe you one for this."

Instead of getting in the passenger seat up front next to Tim, Kinley opened up the back door and slipped in to sit with Dragon. Although it hadn't been a long time at all since they last laid eyes on one another, Kinley couldn't help feeling that little heartbeat skip that every love song ever seemed to talk about. Never had it made more sense than it did now. Kinley smiled at Dragon and reached out to touch his cheek.

"I told you I'd be back," he said, although he had a feeling Dragon didn't understand the looks and promises he tried to communicate to him in silence.

"You owe me more than one for this," Tim replied grimly. This was like murder cover-up levels of debt here. If his parents found out that he helped to smuggle Kinley out of his own house, he'd be in deeper shit than if they found out about his real job! Plus, he was harboring a fugitive and an extra-dimensional being, both in his bedroom. (Eventually, as soon as he got them to his house.) He could only imagine what his father would say about that...

Expecting Kinley to get in the back--that was why Tim told him where Dragon was sitting, after all--Tim quickly slid into the driver's seat. He turned the key in the ignition, spot-checking his blind spots and looking into the rear view mirror. And instantly regretting it, as he caught a glimpse of Kinley touching Dragon's cheek. Dragon leaned into his hand, too, with a small noise. "Kiney!" Then he threw himself at Kinley and Tim looked away. He didn't want to see two people making out in the backseat of his car!

"AHEM!" Tim cleared his throat loudly. "You guys can sleep in my room tonight. I'll uh... bunk with Andy." That was probably best for everybody involved. Tim didn't want to be with the lovebirds all night--judging by what Kinley told him earlier, and seeing how utterly dejected Dragon was when he was forced to leave with Tim, he really didn't want to be caught in the middle.

"An-dy?"

"My little brother."

"Dragon?"

"...kinda."

The car was zipping down the street like a hundred cops were after them. Tim slowed down, though, as he came upon the main street--cops sometimes patrolled there at night. He glanced in the mirror again; Dragon was curled up around Kinley, with his head on his shoulder. It looked like he was trying to literally wrap himself around Kinley.

"Uh. Oh. So. He understands me." Tim jerked a thumb in Dragon's direction. "Dragon. I'm... I'm one too, so we kinda speak the same language. Or at least we understand each other."

Yikes. More than one? He hoped Tim wasn't going to seriously bombard him with a thousand ways to pay him back. At this rate, Kinley was going to owe him a lot more than this, too--because between the two of them, Tim definitely made more money. Kinley considered it once or twice. Working where Tim worked. The money was way too good to pass up but he couldn't do it. Anyway, he thought Tim at least looked old enough and looked like he belonged. Kinley was lankier and he had a feeling people would still think he was eighteen when he was old enough to drink in this town.

Kinley grinned despite the heap of trouble he was surely getting himself into, then raised a thumbs up over at Tim so that he knew he was okay with the sleeping arrangements. The way Tim cleared his throat, it was obvious he had seen the affectionate gestures between the two of them so he probably didn't want to be stuck in the same room with them all night. Ah. Not that Kinley planned on doing anything weird. Still, it would have been awkward to be around Tim while he had some other dude plastered around him the way Dragon was winding around Kinley.

"Wh-what?" News that Dragon could actually understand Tim startled Kinley into staring at the back of Tim's head as he drove. Before he could ask the obvious question, Tim cut him off at the pass. For a second, Kinley could only stare, probably looking like a total idiot with his mouth half open. Tim... Tim was a dragon? Since when! All this time? The whole time they knew each other? How? Tim understood things perfectly fine though. Did he come out of a card, too? What? Kinley couldn't believe it.

"You're a dragon?"

Yeah... pretty much the cat was out of the bag now, but Tim trusted Kinley not to go screaming his head off about it. He chanced a look back; Kinley's face was the definition of comical surprise. And Dragon was trying to squeeze the stuffing out of him, apparently, with how tightly he was velcroed to Kinley's side.

"Yeah sorta. But not really. It's... complicated. Basically... I was one, in a past life, and I was reborn as a human... person." He laughed--a little nervously. It sounded like pure crack. "I'll uh... explain it better later. We gotta get you in the house without anybody noticing." His tone turned grim. "Especially Evie." The little snoop, she was probably going to be waiting by his door when they got back. 

Reincarnation was a THING? It boggled the mind but he couldn't say it wasn't. Dragon was real and Kinley swallowed that story pretty readily. Then again, he saw it happen right in front of him. After something like that, it felt like anything was possible. With all these new revelations spinning in his head, he had to wonder how many of the tales of witches, werewolves, and vampires around Hazleton were actually real stories. Lightly, he stroked Dragon's back, along the spine, wondering if he had spikes there as a real dragon. In the ink version, he did. Although they could have been hairs rather than spikes.

"Oh... right..."

Evie, Tim's shadow. She would likely be waiting nearby but would she tattle if she saw them sneaking in? Probably not but she might give Tim a sneak stipulation, like a hug or a kiss or something he didn't want to give her. Again, his mind went around the dragon revelation. Never in his life did he imagine that Tim was a dragon. Was it a thing now? Did he change into one? Or was he an ink creature, too? Were dragons born or created? Both? Maybe they were the same but different, Tim and Dragon.

Now he felt even worse that he hadn't been able to come up with a unique name to call Dragon. It felt like calling a dog by the name Dog.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked. "The dragon thing?"

Reincarnation was a Thing, definitely. Tim thought Kinley was taking this surprisingly well! But then again, if he'd already seen a guy pop out of a card, what was reincarnation in comparison?

A lot of celestials didn't know what they were, though, in a past life. Tim was different; his family was pureblood dragon, which meant that they had a long history of turning out guys (and girls) like him. Apparently they went way back to ancient times, but Tim was never big on family history so he only knew bits and pieces of the story of his clan.

"Yeah, that was part of it. There's also the... Others... in town." He looked over his shoulder at a stop light, grinning a bit at Kinley. "I'll tell you all about it when we're alone, okay? For now, we have to think of a way to get you in the house." They were nearing his house; he didn't live that far away from Kinley. They used to live in the same neighborhood, before Tim's parents bought the little cafe and moved slightly further away.

"I can probably distract my parents long enough for you to sneak in the back way, but you guys gotta get upstairs fast. You know where my room is, right?"

Okay. Others? What did that mean? The witches? The werewolves? His eyes briefly widened. Did they run into one of those? A werewolf? Was that what was hunting them in the dark forest? He tried not to think about it; he couldn't feel too sorry for somebody who nearly tore off Dragon's arm. They had done nothing to that wolf, except for maybe cross paths with it.

"Yeah..." It seemed like they both had a lot to talk about. Kinley wanted to explain more about what happened with Dragon, like where he found the card, what it did before Dragon popped out of it, and who Dragon was. They'd only met today, really! And it sounded like there would be a lot more pieces to the puzzle when Tim explained his part of the story. Maybe all together, it would stitch together into something that made sense.

Noticing that they were getting close to Tim's house, Kinley straightened up a little.

"Yeah. I know where it is." He looked down at Dragon, who looked like he really was trying to wind his entire body all around him. "Dragon..." he started, then looked over at Tim. "Hey... uh, can you tell him the plan? If I try to explain, he's probably just going to end up confused."

The thing that worried Tim was the card. The magical card that someone was leaving out--either accidentally or by design. Something told him it wasn't accidental. Nobody who had a card like that, which was linked to a real dragon, would leave it laying around. They would guard it zealously. Dragons were enormous sources of power so... who tamed this one and linked it to the card? It wasn't just any old witch off the corner of Main St. who could perform magic of that caliber. Tim was definitely going to look at the card--later.

For now, he had to concern himself with practical things, like smuggling people into his room. He nodded as they pulled up to his house, stopping two houses down and cutting the engine. "Yeah. Hey, Dragon." Tim turned to look at him; he stopped acting like an octopus and lifted his head from Kinley's shoulder, giving Tim a quizzical look. "We're going into my house, but you have to be quiet, okay? And quick! Got it?"

Dragon blinked. Tim sighed. "Just trust me."

"...Kiney?"

"Yeah Kinley's going with you." That seemed to satisfy him. He sat up straight and nodded. Tim exchanged a look with Kinley. "Okay, let me go in first, and then you guys go around back. I'll unlock the door for you."

Kinley looked over at Dragon again as he spoke his name, then smiled. Yes. They were going together. What Kinley didn't understand was how Dragon understood everything Tim said! It sounded like he was speaking in a way that Kinley understood. Was there something underneath it, like a dog whistle? Something only dragons could hear, detect, and understand? Snapping himself out of his curious daze, Kinley extricated himself, opened the door, and scooted himself out of the car. With his hand in Dragon's, he walked around to the back of Tim's place. As he passed the kitchen, he could hear Evie inside, excitedly talking about what sounded like a sports event at school.

Quickly, he placed a finger to his own lips to indicate they should remain silent as they passed by, ducking under the window to make sure they weren't seen. The back gate squeaked but it was probably lost to those inside... hopefully. It wasn't that loud really but when sneaking around, every sound seemed like it was amplified. When he paused, he still heard Evie going on... which was a little funny to Kinley. She was definitely a chatterbox.

"I don't think he's getting around her," he whispered, and then realized that he shouldn't have bothered since Dragon didn't understand him anyway. He smiled at him, an assurance that what he said didn't matter. Then they were in the backyard. Kinley looked around, at the swing under the tree and the still green grass. It was smaller than the one Tim had growing up but it was nicer.

It was a miracle! There was someone who understood him in this place--and it was a human. Or... well, somewhat human, anyway, and definitely part-dragon. That explained why Dragon felt as though they knew one another. Tim was familiar, one of his kind, even if his current human shell looked nothing like a dragon. (Neither did Dragon's, though, so they were even.)

He didn't have much of a chance to find out more about Tim or about Kinley's relationship with him before Tim was going away again, leaving him in a cold metal contraption that looked suspiciously like a cage. It was a cage, of a sort. Dragon sat nervously in the back seat until Kinley came, and then he forgot about his apprehension at sitting inside a metal cage. He snuggled up to Kinley, trying to express his overwhelming relief that Kinley hadn't abandoned him.

Tim took them to a strange part of town--strange for Dragon, who had never been anywhere save the woods and then Kinley's house. He didn't know what was going on, and why Tim needed him to be quiet and secretive, but he trusted that one of his kind wouldn't betray him. Dragon tip-toed around back with Kinley, holding hands tightly, scarcely daring to breathe. This felt dangerous--not the exciting kind of dangerous, but like there could be some sort of real danger present. Then again, to Dragon, everything felt dangerous simply because he knew so little about this world.

"Hey guys!" He heard Tim's voice eventually, rising over the babble of others. There seemed to be more like him--like dragon. More dragons inside. Dragon listened intently, while edging closer to Kinley, not understanding his words but understanding his reassuring smile. He squeezed Kinley's hand.

"Tim! Where have you been? Where's Andy?" A woman's voice--one of the other dragons, since Dragon understood her. Then a man's voice, an older male, but this one not a dragon.

"Oh I took him over to Kero's place. They're uh. Doing homework. Together."

Dragon looked to Kinley. Home work? What was home work and why did it need to be done together? Truly mysterious, these humans.

"At this hour? How long will he be there? He has school tomorrow, you know that."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going back for him soon. So... uh... I'm taking Evie and Andy camping this weekend and we need the tents and sleeping bags. I couldn't find them earlier..."

"They're in the garage."

"They're not, I looked!"

"Yes, they are. In the bins by the door?"

"Uhh. Evie! Come help me look for them!"

Dragon lifted a brow at Kinley, totally lost. There were terms he understood, but most of them he had no idea. Garage? Tents? Sleeping bags? They slept in bags? He looked up sharply as something clicked, and then Tim's voice came, loud and clear from inside.

"Okay! We're HEADING OUTSIDE NOW!"

In all his life, he never thought this was where he'd end up. Yet here he was, in the backyard of his best friend, holding onto the hand of a dragon that came out of a card after sneaking away from home. His heart beat harder as they stood waiting. No regrets held him down but he was definitely wondering if there were better ways to go about this. Too late; this was it. They were already here and the door was unlocked for them. Gently, he pulled Dragon along with him as he quietly entered the house through the back entrance.

He had been here only a handful of times since Tim's family moved. It wasn't as conveniently located and he and Tim had been slowly going separate ways. Tim had his job and Kinley had his. When he wasn't at work or home, Kinley tended to spend a lot of his time at the studio. His life had been pretty dull lately. Ever since graduating, he felt like he was on pause, waiting for something exciting to happen. He got what he was waiting for, although he never thought it would come in the form of a boy who was a dragon... straight off the face of a card.

Kinley was silent as he slipped into what he hoped was Tim's bedroom. At the very least, he knew it wasn't with Tim and Andy's parents. They were still somewhere at the front of the house, talking about something Kinley couldn't quite catch with his human ears.

Quietly, quietly, they stole into the building, reminding Dragon strongly of the other building and how they snuck in there too. Only to be caught and threatened. Dragon didn't know if this was a fantastic idea but he was willing to follow Kinley--anywhere. Into a metal cage, into buildings full of angry humans, anywhere.

"Kiney?" he whispered, wondering what was next. Were they safe here? They were inside of a room, with the lights off. Dragon couldn't see much of anything so he didn't stray too far, instead sticking to Kinley's side. There were voices downstairs, muffled and indistinct. Tim was nowhere to be found. Dragon barely dared to breathe and his heart thudded in his chest at the thought of being caught again.

He... didn't know if he liked it here.

"We're okay," he whispered back as he closed the door behind them. When he flipped on the light switch, he found that they were indeed in Tim's bedroom. Maybe he shouldn't have turned on the lights, though? His hand hesitated at the switch. Well, he knew where he was now... He flipped the switch back off, plunging them back into darkness. Since he knew where the bed was now, Kinley led Dragon toward it.

"Dragon," he said. "Sleep."

They were both dead tired. Dragon made it pretty clear back in the office at home and Kinley agreed. All he wanted to do was curl up into a nice, soft bed and go to sleep. Kicking off his shoes, he climbed into the bed. It didn't seem fair to steal Tim's bed from him but it was just for tonight and Kinley could even do the laundry for him later as thanks. I'm going to be thanking him to my grave. Tim really did go above and beyond for him. Kinley only hoped he'd be able to pay him back someday for his generosity.

Pulling Dragon into the bed with him, he laid down and curled himself around him, the way he wanted to for what felt like hours now.

In the moments when the light shone in the room--magically, because Dragon saw nothing like a candle within sight and all Kinley did was touch the wall--Dragon saw things that were foreign to him (yet again). After the lights went off, he touched the wall curiously but they didn't come back on again when he did it. It seemed that only Kinley knew the secret to the magic lights...

Thoroughly mystified, he let himself be pulled across the room and down onto something soft and warm. Dragon wasn't wearing shoes so there was nothing to kick off. He curled into Kinley too, letting out a contented sound as he realized that they could rest here, the way he wanted to earlier before they were caught. Dragon smiled to himself; this time it was Kinley who wound himself around Dragon. Did that mean they were on the same page?

Slowly he shifted, until his lips brushed Kinley's. "Kiney..." Dragon's leg slid against his gently, up and then down. "Dragon... like Kiney." He learned that from Tim earlier in the car.

Finally. Finally, he could slow down, to let everything happen naturally. So much adrenaline and tension had been running through him on and off since he'd met Dragon and now it was just time to let things slow down. He needed time to let it all sink in, to really soak up Dragon. Who he was, what he felt like in his arms, his scent when they were so close together. Although they'd spent time tumbling through the woods and could use a wash up, he found Dragon didn't stink like a pit-stinking jock after a workout.

His skin was soft to the touch. His arms, his shoulders. Soft and warm. Kinley let himself just lie there in the darkness, curled around him, and he just breathed. After a moment, he closed his eyes and sighed, a heavy but content sigh. His lips curved upward. Yes, finally. A moment of serenity after chaotic block after chaotic block. The chaos drifted away into the darkness. Although he heard voices every now and again, it was really just himself and Dragon in that moment. He could hear Dragon in the darkness, the sound of his breath, the shift of his weight on the bed.

Lips were on his in a gentle kiss. Then he felt legs against his legs. Kinley's eyes half opened, gaze drifting lower. Swinging his gaze back up to meet Dragon's in the dark, he wished he could really look at him. In the dark, he could see the shadows, the outlines of his nose, his lips, the darkness where his eyes were. Kinley reached out to gingerly touch the side of Dragon's face. "Kinley likes Dragon, too."

It's beautiful...

They might have been words spoken in the heat of the moment, carelessly uttered, but Dragon remembered them. It was the first time that anyone had ever spoken to him like that--in that tone, with that look in their eyes. He would never forget it, how Kinley's face looked down at him through the face of the card. He would never forget the awe and wonder in his voice.

That was the first time that Dragon moved.

Afterwards, Kinley continued to speak to him, but Dragon remembered those first words that he heard and he latched on to them. As the days went by, he found ways to help Kinley, imparting him with artistic skills, communicating with him through ink and paper. Dragon began to yearn for him, to long to be with him, until that yearning and longing became so great that it opened the portal to Kinley. He was sure that was why the others couldn't see the portal, nor travel through it. They didn't feel as strongly about someone; their hearts were cold, encased in ice and stone.

In the darkness, the only thing he could hear and feel was Kinley. He closed his eyes and basked in the sensations, the way that Kinley touched him and held him. He felt Kinley's chest moving slightly with each breath; he heard him shifting against the sheets. Dragon already knew that Kinley liked him but hearing it made it feel extra special somehow. He smiled into the darkness, shifting closer, using the few words that he knew to try and express a desire that surpassed the dimensional barrier between his world and Kinley's.

"Kiney... kiss?"

Magic always made him half roll his eyes and scoff, the way teenagers did whenever people talked of magic tricks, of clowns and childish things. He was way too old for all that silly superstition but it was hard not to believe when he held magic in his hands. When he saw that dragon move, he thought he'd seen things but he became more and more sure that something magic was afoot when his art skills improved. Or rather, he was guided by the hand of a real artistic eye.

Dragon continued to amaze him. Kinley hadn't felt this spark for somebody in a long time. Excitement buzzed in his head and fluttered in his chest when he was around Dragon now. Before, he was amazed and awed by magic. Now there was a more complicated dynamic at play. Was it... wrong to be so attracted to somebody that might really just be ink and magic? It was hard to care about the answer to that when nobody was around to judge. When it was just the two of them, it seemed right because... it felt mutual.

His fingertips found Dragon's hand and he slid them over the top of Dragon's hand, feeling the finely crafted bones that made up his fingers, his knuckles, his wrist. Even in darkness, with no way to visually see him, Dragon was beautiful in a different way.

"Yes," he said, after a breath of hesitation. It wasn't apprehension that made him hesitate. It was the deep thump in his chest. Maybe all of this was a product of magic. He could be under Dragon's spell right now... but if he was, he didn't care. His hand moved up the length of Dragon's arm to cradle his jaw as he leaned closer. Their breath mingled and their noses touched. He wanted to say something but the words caught in his throat. Dragon would never understand them, anyway. Instead, his eyes slowly closed as he leaned in the rest of the way. His lips met Dragon's again, plying him with a series of soft kisses.

"Dragon," he said after a moment, feeling almost drunk on his kisses alone. In the darkness, he felt dreamy, floaty, the way he did when he got a little bit tipsy. His fingertips sought the swell of Dragon's lower lip. "We should stop. Get some sleep."

Dragon didn't know how humans expressed affection--not by winding around one another--but he had a feeling that the kisses were one way to do it. When Kinley kissed him, it made him feel... beautiful. That emotion captured the moment exactly. It was beautiful, how soft Kinley's lips were, how artful his kisses were.

Dragon thought that no one could ever kiss the way that Kinley kissed, and he wasn't particularly eager to test that theory on anyone else. It was enough to only kiss Kinley. It was always enough to only look at him through the card, to only hear his whisper in his ears, to only belong to him, to be his Dragon. And even though Kinley didn't--couldn't--belong to Dragon in the same way, he was at peace with that.

This was Kinley's world and he belonged in it. It was natural to have family, to have friends like Tim, siblings and parents and even strangers who glared at him. It was Dragon who was out of place here, the sore thumb that stood out despite his very human appearance. He was acutely aware of that fact, and he fretted about how to get back through the portal, but it wasn't all bad. Most of it had been bad, this was true, from being chased to being bitten to being cornered and shuttled around, but he could forget all of that when Kinley kissed him and held him like a treasured item--like the magic card that he used to cradle in his hands as he whispered to it.

"No Kiney..." Don't stop. He didn't know how to say it and wasn't aware that he was saying no to getting much-needed rest. Dragon didn't even need rest. Not when he had Kinley. Before, he was dog-tired and ready to drop down onto any surface to sleep. Now, his veins were on fire. His blood boiled and brought the heat rushing through from head to toe, from fingertips to the soles of his feet. He tingled in a few places, too, a sensation that he didn't know how to deal with. What did he do?

His lips pushed past Kinley's fingertips. Bypassed them on the way back to his lips. Dragon tried to imitate him, deepening the kisses with clumsy eagerness. His inexperience showed but he was enthusiastic, if nothing else. Hands mapped across Kinley's chest and shoulders, around, down, everywhere. Dragon had never felt a human body before and it thrilled him to be able to touch Kinley now. There were all kinds of different textures and it fascinated him how the human body could be soft and warm, but also firm and solid.

Intoxicated by this new experience, Dragon arched into Kinley and made a noise. Even he didn't know how he did it--a moan, a guttural and needy sound. Dragon wasn't good with words but his human body seemed to know that it needed something more than kisses, the way that it sought out Kinley's body, melding two into one.

No? No, he didn't want to sleep? But wasn't that what he drew? Kinley poised his lips to ask the question, always speaking despite the fact that Dragon didn't understand him. Yet his words were drowned out by the affectionate, enthusiastic kisses Dragon plied him with. No, he didn't want to stop? He wanted to kiss, to keep kissing. Blinking in the darkness, Kinley felt hands curiously moving over his body. Somehow, he doubted this was what Tim meant when he decided to give up his bedroom to them for a night. That didn't stop Kinley from smiling into the next kiss.

"You're so..." affectionate was the word he was going for but he sort of half choked on the word before it could properly escape. Dragon couldn't have any idea what he was doing but the way his body moved, it seemed like his body knew what to do. Or what it wanted to do. That and the sound of Dragon's moan. That properly stopped Kinley from doing anything except experiencing a telltale electricity that shot straight down to his groin. Biting his lower lip, his breath hitched.

"Dragon," he started, and wasn't sure how to communicate effectively so he ended up just saying, "Dragon" again like an idiot. He shouldn't have done it, but he rolled Dragon over onto his back so he could straddle him. Part of him thought it was a great way to stop him. Most of the rest of him knew that it wasn't. His hand slid low, beneath the waistband of his sweats. Don't do it, the practical side of him said, even as his hand found Dragon's very human genitals. He'd seem them before--he couldn't say otherwise. But now was the first time he'd actually gasped him, stroking him, partly hoping to make Dragon feel good and partly because he wanted to hear that soft little moan again.

"Kiney," Dragon breathed Kinley's name in awed tones, feeling in the moment as if something incredible was about to happen. His entire body was buzzing. He didn't know the word for it--arousal, excitement--but he knew the feeling itself.

It only happened to him once before, in his lifetime. Only once, with another of his kind. Nothing much came of it--the eggs weren't viable and soon she drifted away to be with another, stronger, better male. Dragon was used to being looked over and out-competed; he sort of understood why they didn't exactly flock to him. In his world, he was undesirable because of his inferior, weak genes.

That was why when Kinley called him beautiful and looked at him through the card in that way, Dragon immediately latched on to him.

He didn't know how the humans did things but the pleasurable feeling was too strong to ignore. It grew stronger, the more they kissed and the more he touched of Kinley's body. Dragon might have touched the usual places and he might have touched strange places--he didn't know any better. Was it wrong? Bad? Kinley didn't seem to dislike it and the way he spoke Dragon's name made him flare with heat. Good heat, pleasant heat that pooled in the place with the swinging bits.

That place was reacting too, he found. Strangely. It ached. It felt tight and tingly. It--"Oomph!" Dragon let out a surprised grunt as he was pushed onto his back. His hands flew to Kinley's sides and there, held on to his shirt. "Kiney?" What was he doing? Was he trying to push Dragon away, and then accidentally rolled onto him? Dragon blinked, until a hand reached under the cloth.

"A-ahh!" It startled him. It-it felt good. Great. Amazing. He arched into Kinley's hand uncontrollably, letting out a decidedly loud moan. The voices below them stopped suddenly and Dragon's moan tailed off into a needy whimper.

One could not say that Kinley was exactly an expert at all things sex related. For one thing, he was only eighteen. For another thing, his first time ever was two years ago and two years of experience in a field was hardly qualified for the expert label. The thing was, Dragon didn't know that and he never even had to know. Nobody did; it was just between the two of them. There was a moment of hesitation just before his hand slid beneath the soft cloth of the sweatpants--was it right to take advantage of Dragon? Was it even taking advantage of him if he liked it?

Dragon did seem to like it, though. His body really seemed to like it and that was what spurred him onward. Kinda hard not to, when Dragon was bucking into his hand like an over eager cat demanding more attention. The moan was music to his ears and heat spilled into his groin so quickly and so suddenly that he had to stop just to keep himself from doing something stupid like... getting so excited that he prematurely ended things. He let out a small groan, his arms shaking slightly from the tension of keeping it all inside.

"C-crap..." He ached. All he wanted to do was... His head swam with the thought, heat flashing through him. His breath was audible in the darkness as he dropped his head to nuzzle Dragon, to cradle his body as his heart thumped hard in his chest. His lips brushed the soft place just beneath his ear and he could feel his quickening pulse. After Dragon's moan, everything had gone so still and quiet. Taking Dragon's chin, he guided his lips to his, kissing him as his body moved against Dragon's, electricity against electricity. He tasted the sound of his soft whimper and his body moved against Dragon's again, intimating a certain act with hips grinding against hips to alleviate the burning ache inside.

Kinley was a wizard, with magic in his fingertips.

How else could Dragon explain the way that Kinley made him feel? Earlier, he commanded the lights to go on in the room by simply touching the wall. Magic. Everything about Kinley was magic, was beautiful, was fascinating and intriguing and spell-binding. Dragon had never known anyone like him and likely wouldn't again.

"Kiney... ah... Kiney..." He spoke Kinley's name on repeat until lips pressed against his again, absorbing his sighs and moans--probably a good thing, given how much noise he made earlier. Dragon writhed restlessly against him, his hands going to places that he didn't know shouldn't go. He touched cloth but wondered what flesh felt like. His fingertips slid venturously--if tentatively at first--underneath the hem of Kinley's shirt and, when met with no resistance, swept up the length of his back.

Then... the grinding happened. And Dragon's head swam with pleasure, his body mindlessly arching into Kinley's. His nails dug into Kinley's back every once in a while as he gasped and tried to catch a breath of air. Suddenly the air was hot; it wouldn't enter his lungs properly. He couldn't breathe and wondered if he was dying. Not that Dragon minded dying like this, when the world was burning, and so was he. The ball of tension inside of him clenched, shivered, then suddenly released.

Dragon didn't exactly last very long but it was his first time. He let out a cry in his own language, some combination of words--sweet, affectionate words. The voices downstairs stilled again but Dragon didn't notice. He was gone... gone... far gone, clinging to Kinley like he was the only thing tethering Dragon to the Earth--which he very well may have been.

Nobody Kinley ever met was half as handsome as Dragon was. Beautiful was the word for it. Not beautiful like a modelesque woman. Not beautiful like a sunset but beautiful like... something pure. Everything was brand new to Dragon and somehow, it made everything brand new to Kinley, too. Again, he was hardly an experienced expert but he felt like everything was perfect. Even when he should have felt clumsy, even if somebody else would have made him feel inept, Dragon made him feel special. He made him feel... wanted and desired.

And Kinley had never wanted or desired anybody more than Dragon. School crushes were nothing in the face of the way Dragon made him feel. How was it even possible to feel so close and intimate to a person he hadn't even known existed in this manner until today? Kinley had been so detached from the idea of being this open with somebody for a long time. Ever since his brother left, he closed off a part of himself that made it impossible for anybody new to get this close. Somehow, Dragon snuck right in, curling around his heart, just the way the inky dragon on the card moved. It was the closest thing to the way Kinley felt when he was dancing. Like... liquid magic. Effortless and beautiful and elegant... That was Dragon.

The way he made him feel was... it was an exquisite ache. Some part of him knew that he should be shushing Dragon but he closed his eyes as nails dug into his skin and words he didn't recognize spilled from Dragon's mouth. He had no idea what the words meant but he liked the way they sounded. Just like music to go with their collective dance.

It didn't take long for Kinley to feel the release of heat, like a simultaneous explosion in his chest and his groin. He didn't even notice the sudden silence afterward because all he could hear was Dragon's breathing in the darkness. Stars populated his vision for a moment as he rolled over and took Dragon with him, cuddling him close. He wore a wide smile as he caught his breath. Because he knew Dragon knew the word, he whispered it again, "Beautiful."

Dragon rolled with Kinley but his head was already spinning. He grinned into the darkness, at nothing, and nuzzled whatever part of Kinley that his cheek was pressed against. It felt like another cheek. Skin. Warmth. Softness.

"Kiney beeyootiful," he whispered back, like he was sharing a deep, dark secret. There was silence now, save for their slowing breaths. Dragon curled languorously around Kinley and found it easier laying down. He could slip a leg over Kinley's, and he could wind his arms around him--just so. Dragon tried to make the usual pleased sound he made as a dragon but his throat didn't work quite right, so all that came out was a low hum.

Ah, well. He couldn't be upset about that. He couldn't be upset about anything, not when he and Kinley... er... liked each other. So this was how humans did things. It was strange; he didn't see how eggs could be produced this way but maybe that, too, was like magic.

"Tim? Are you up there?"

The voice was right outside! Dragon stiffened, every sense springing to high alert. He heard the doorknob turning before he saw the light spilling into the room and in the panic of the moment, he-he used his magic. It was terrible, terrible, but he wasn't thinking. He turned them invisible as the door opened fully.

"Strange, I thought I heard a noise up here. Didn't you, honey?"

He was pretty satisfied for somebody who didn't actually have actual sex. (According to the definition of some friends, anyway.) According to Kinley, it was totally sex because they were both content and happy and besides that, they both got off. So there! He smiled as he cuddled closer to Dragon, reveling in the warm, happy little bubble that consisted of just the two of them. Closing his eyes, he kissed Dragon on the cheek. Then the sound of voices and he froze in place.

Holy shit. He stared and his eyes steadily grew wider as the door opened. His heart leapt into his throat and he stared even more as Tim's parents stood there, staring right at the bed... and only looking perplexed. Sinking lower into the bed, he let out a small sound, which they seemed to hear--but that was it. They continued to look confused as they looked around the room and then at one another.

"Yes," Tim's dad said, frowning slightly. And they both turned in surprise when they heard Tim's voice--coming from somewhere downstairs. Kinley couldn't tell if he was being trolled or not but he was too shocked to say anything as the dad turned down the hall. Tim's mom, though, she looked around the room one last time before following her husband.

"...what just happened?"

Slowly, carefully, Dragon lifted his hand and slipped it over Kinley's mouth after he made the squeaky sound. His limbs being locked in place around Kinley's made it easier for Dragon to keep him from squirming or leaping up, too, for which he was grateful. Any movement on the bed would be noticed and while they appeared invisible, they could still be touched and felt.

"Hey mom? Dad? Where are you?" Tim's voice drifted up. There were hurried footsteps and he burst out into the doorway, looking aghast, and then suddenly perplexed. "Uh. Oh. Uh." He turned around and ran off, leaving them in the darkness.

"Kiney. No." Dragon whispered into his ear. Don't move, he wanted to say, but not knowing the words, he squeezed Kinley's legs with his own to indicate that they should lie still for another few moments. Tim's voice came again, less distinctly, talking about garages and tents. Tim's mother told him about a noise upstairs and Dragon heard Tim laughing uneasily.

"Maybe something fell upstairs."

"It sounded like a groan, like a voice."

"Oh. Ghosts?" Tim laughed again. "I'll go up and check! Pretty sure it was just one of my books falling, I thought I saw something on the floor. Hold on." Footsteps thumping up the stairs, and then Tim appeared again. He edged into the room cautiously and hissed, "Kinley?" He headed to the closet, eased it open and stuck his head into it. "Yo! Where the hell are you guys?"

No? No what? Kinley stared as Tim came in after his parents and looked around--also not spotting them. Were they invisible? Kinley's eyes turned toward Dragon in question. He didn't fully understand what the heck was going on. Magic was still brand new to him and he was having a hard time wrapping it around his head. Did they just vanish? Were they on another plane? But he could feel the bed beneath him and air around him. It all felt just as real as Dragon's arms and legs around him.

Hearing somebody mention a groan, he felt himself grow hot with embarrassment. Uh. Yeah. So they heard all that? Did the bed make noise, too? Was it too obvious what was going on? Aiya, he's going to kill me when he finds out what we did on his bed... His gaze turned downward, then flew back up when Tim came back. Kinley tried to sit up a little more but he was still held pretty tightly by Dragon and ended up not really doing much of anything except slightly moving his arms as he ineffectually... flapped.

"Over here," Kinley whispered loudly, then looked over at Dragon.

Where the heeeeell were Kinley and Dragon?! Tim didn't have many places in his room where two whole people could hide. Even his bed was too low for them to crawl under and the closet was shallow and empty so... where? He looked up, at the ceiling, in case they were plastered there. Nope. Did they even get to the room? Were they hiding in another room? Tim turned to leave and search elsewhere when he heard Kinley's voice.

"Kin?" He jerked his head around. "Where the hell are you?!" Did the bed just move? Or jiggle a little bit? There was a weird depression on the mattress too, and he went over slowly. Tim reached out a hand. Felt something... like an ankle.

"What the fuck?!" Luckily he didn't shout it but he leapt back, clearly startled. Were they... invisible? His hand shot out again and felt up the ankle, up along a shin. "Are you guys... on the bed?"

"Ah!" He slid his foot away as Tim grasped onto his ankle, out of mere habit. Weird. Weird, that Tim didn't see them but he could feel them. Or him, at least. What the hell was going on? Did Dragon really use some kind of spell to make them both invisible? If he did, they were still there, existing. Tim touched him!

"Y-yeah?" Kinley said, unable to keep his voice from shaking from both apprehension and a weird sense of hilarity. It was kinda funny, after all! They were right in front of Tim but he couldn't actually see them. After a moment, Kinley reached out and tried to touch Tim. Since he was held so tightly, though, he mostly just barely brushed one of Tim's arms.

"I think Dragon made us invisible."

"He can do that?" Tim asked he jerked his arm away reflexively, then relaxed. "Well, keep on being invisible! My parents thought they heard you guys up here so keep quiet! I gotta go pick up Andy. Keep. Quiet. Okay?" He turned to leave, closing the door behind him softly.

Dragon let out a soft noise of concern. He could keep the invisibility up but... he wasn't supposed to use his magic here. It was like a beacon, a signal to the master. Dragon let go of Kinley finally and glanced at the window. It was all dark and quiet outside but he could feel the disturbance already, in the air. The portal? Was it opening again? The master had to know by now that Dragon was here, now that he had given himself away.

"Kiney..." The glow lit up the room--the glow from Kinley's pocket where he'd put the card. Dragon scooted quickly off the bed, his frightened face illuminated by the light. "No... no," he moaned, putting out a hand as if he could block the light from reclaiming him.

"Apparently."

All right, so he was supposed to stay invisible and quiet. That didn't sound so difficult, although it did kinda creep Kinley out that he might not be able to become visible again. Dragon wouldn't leave him this way though! Relaxing against the pillows, he was actually kind of glad Tim couldn't see them. It didn't seem like he'd noticed what occurred between the two of them and he was just fine leaving it at that.

"Okay," he said quietly as he watched Tim leave. Then there was silence and Kinley tried to curl back up against Dragon but he didn't seem okay with what just happened. When Dragon let go of him, Kinley made a small sound of protest and attempted to pull him back but... What? Was there something outside? Kinley followed Dragon's concerned gaze to the window but he only saw the rustling of a tree branch in the wind. Smiling, Kinley put a hand gently on Dragon's shoulder. Maybe he thought it was somebody outside.

"It's just a tree branch," he said, as quietly as possible but... but Dragon was up and springing out of the bed as something lit up the entire room. Something coming from... Kinley's pocket?! Kinley also got to his feet and he pulled the card out. The light from it was blinding and Kinley let out a cry as he dropped it. Why was it hot?

"Dragon?"

Just like that, he was gone. Not in the room anymore. When Kinley looked down at the card where it had fallen on his bed, he only saw the back of it. Trembling slightly, he picked it up and turned it around to look at the face of the card.

Hurled through the portal at an incredible speed, Dragon's head was still reeling as he hit the ground. In a daze, he struggled to his feet and found that they weren't the two twiggy human legs that he had only moments ago. He was back in his real form, the long inky black dragon that appeared on Kinley's card.

Frantically, Dragon rose through the air. He approached the portal and butted it with his head--as if that would activate it--but it remained cold and silent. When he glanced around, all he saw was the gray space and the others silently resting and biding their time. Dragon uttered a devastated noise and sank back to the ground, where he curled up and closed his eyes.

He saw Kinley's face.

Kiney... Dragon knew that his image would be back on the card again but he wanted to be out there with Kinley...