What's in a name?

[Dragon]

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.

[Kinley Sima]

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."

[Dragon]

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?"

[Kinley Sima]

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]

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.

[Kinley Sima]

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.

[Dragon]

"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.

[Kinley Sima]

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.

[Dragon]

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.

[Kinley Sima]

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]

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?"

[Kinley Sima]

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?"

[Dragon]

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?"

[Kinley Sima]

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.

[Tim Zhong]

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?"