Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Mercury had ordered a whole bunch of stuff for the house.
Soft pillows and marled blankets. Rugs that felt good under his feet. Their apartment was lovely. Talon had done a good job with the basics, but he wanted more comfy stuff.
So now he was spreading it all around the apartment, putting the pillows hither and yon on the couch and on the floor, placing the rugs just so, and then putting them in different places because he wanted to see where they looked best.
Mercury wanted to leave his mark on the house. He wanted it to be super comfy before the baby came, and there were a few things he was probably going to have to move into storage until after the baby was big enough not to run into things when he crawled.
He tested that out. He. Yes, Mercury thought he was a son.
He twirled a little bit, listening to his body. Listening to the babe inside him, he thought. It was as if going with Kami and rescuing that other dragon had unlocked some communication between him and the baby.
Speaking of which, Mercury looked around, satisfied with where everything was now, so he pulled on a soft sweater over his even softer sweater and tucked his feet into some shoes so he could wander down to the med bay.
He wanted to visit his new… Well, he wasn’t going to say “friend.” Could one say “friend” if somebody had tried to eat one?
It didn’t matter because he thought that particular dragon needed friends, and he was going to make an effort.
He understood about needing friends, so he toodled down to the med bay, stopping on the way to pick up cupcakes.
Because cupcakes were the best way to make friends. He knew it. No question. Cupcakes were the thing.
He smiled at the young dragon who was sitting in the little lobby seating area.
“I’m here to see Dannol,” he said. “He’s the new dragon that came in.”
“I’m not sure if he’s having visitors.”
“I’m the one who brought him here. You can tell him that I would really like to see him please. He knows me. I am Mercury.”
“All right.” She left, a confused look on her face, and her expression when she came back was even more confused. “The doctor says if you want to visit, you can go in.”
“All right, thanks. Can you show me where?”
Dannol’s room was at the very back of the med bay, and Mercury knocked on the door. “Hello, it’s Mercury. Can I come in?”
The response was a low growl, and he thought that might be a yes, so in he went.
Dannol was laying on the floor, all dragon-y, but he was much more colorful and less clear than he had been before.
“Hello, I hope you remember me. I’m the one who brought you here. I wanted you to know that I brought you cupcakes, and your hoard is here, and boxed up safe in storage, waiting for you to get an apartment.”
Dannol blinked at him. Are you serious?
Mercury shrugged. “About which part?” He motioned to himself.
“I’m Mercury, these are cupcakes, the hoard is upstairs, but I can show you pictures.
It’s in storage because we didn’t know where else to put it, so we put everything very nicely in many boxes so that you could have it when you were done. ”
“No one took it?”
“Why would anyone want to take your hoard? It’s yours.”
He didn’t have a hoard; he didn’t really need one. He didn’t think he was really the hoarding dragon type, but if he was going to hoard something, he’d decided it was going to be tea cups. Tea cups seemed like a lovely thing to collect.
Are you insane?
He looked at Donnal. “No, I’m pregnant, and I’m here, and I want to be your friend, and I brought you cupcakes.
I’m assuming that I can just toss them into your mouth if you want, or you could shift, whichever.
I don’t really care, or you can save them for later.
I got three red velvet, three devil’s food, three spice cake, and then three butter, and there’s all different kinds of icing. ”
He came in and sat in one of the chairs, putting the cupcakes on the table. “I hope you don’t mind; it’s really hard walking around with a baby sometimes.”
Dannol lifted his head, sniffing the air. I’m glad I didn’t eat you. I would have felt bad knowing you had a baby.
“I’m glad you didn’t, too, because then my mate probably would have killed you.” He shrugged one shoulder, then grabbed a cupcake to unwrap it. “Open up. I’ll toss in a red velvet.”
To his surprise, Dannol opened to him and let him throw the cupcake, which was kind of fun, it was like a carnival game.
He made it in one toss. Dannol snapped up the cupcake, and he laughed. “Look at that. We did it.”
You really are nuts. Dannol shook his kind of boofy head. His scales were gleaming but only kind of dully.
“I was trapped in a tower for almost my whole life. I was alone a lot, and kind of starving. I only had tuna fish. I hate fish. And they had a magic controller on me, so I couldn’t do anything.
It was gross.” Mercury shrugged. “So, I get it. I’m probably a little nuts, but now I’m here, and I’m safe, and I want to be your friend.
I think you’d like Talon too. He’s my mate. He’s kind of cool.”
In a totally hot sort of way.
And your mate lets you be down here with me by yourself?
“So, he doesn’t exactly know.” He grinned at Donnal.
“I mean, I didn’t tell him I wasn’t coming.
He’s working with my friend Kami; you met him.
They find stones for dragons who’ve lost their stones and for new babies.
I bet that’s what they’re doing now for you, but I was working in the house, and I was making it nice.
Then I thought, it’s nice enough, I want to go see my new friend. ”
Well, thank you.
“Of course. Would you like another cupcake? You want another red velvet, or you want to try a different kind?”
A different one? A spark seemed to be lighting Donnal up from the inside, his eyes glowing a little bit. But not in a, “I’m going to burn you to a crisp” sort of way. More from a friendship kind of place, he thought.
And when he saw what looked like a smile curl the dragon’s mouth, he knew he had won the guy over at least partly.
He chose a butter cupcake with chocolate frosting and tossed that one into Dannol’s mouth. Those teeth gleamed as they snapped out at it. And you heard the primal sound Dannol made. Mmmmmm.
“I know, right? Cupcakes are the best. Much better than fish.”
Even the fish was spoiled where I was trapped. Dannol shook his head. I don’t like to think of it.
How did you come to be trapped there? Do you mind telling me or would you like to wait?
Sooner or later you are going to tell me because my curiosity will win out.
He figured it was better to start out like he could hold out and admit his failings right now, so that Dannol still wanted to be his friend.
My keep was destroyed. It was an act of war.
They came and took everything from us. But I had managed to gather together what I could of our hoard because I knew the stones would be important if we were ever going to repopulate the keep.
I trapped the one box with the stone in it, but they locked me in to that room, not knowing the magical trap was in place.
“That’s awful. I had a lover who was from your keep, I think, and someone killed him.”
Dannol tilted his head. You mean at the keep? During the war?
“No. I mean, he was staying at my keep on a diplomatic mission, and I accidentally ended up sliding there with him, where you were trapped. He grabbed my hand and said he wanted to go home, and I took him there. It was awful.” Mercury shuddered at the thought of all the brackish water and terrible violence.
“Anyway, he then disappeared, and I thought he left because he was so upset, but I found out just recently that someone had killed him. I think he knew something he wasn’t supposed to. ”
Dannol growled. So many. So many disappeared or killed because of something so stupid.
“So what was the reason for it?” He spread his hands, then realized he had frosting on his fingers, so he licked them.
Dannol opened his mouth, awaiting another cupcake. This time, he did one with cream cheese frosting on it. Stones, stones like no one else had ever seen. Like the one your friend wanted. I think he wanted it for your baby. I gave it to him, didn’t I, in exchange for getting me out of there?
“Yes, you did. That’s for my baby?” He put a hand on his belly, feeling a warm glow. Dannol was willing to give up part of his hoard so Mercury’s baby could have a stone. That was incredibly sweet.
It is. Do you really think your friend can find me a stone? Mine was destroyed.
“He found me one,” Mercury said. “And he gave his own away so my mate would stay alive.”
Donnal blinked. Honestly, that’s—He shook his head. I didn’t even think that was possible.
Mercury shrugged. “I didn’t either, to be honest. I never even really thought about it, but it’s very rare. Kami is very special.”
Donnal looked at him and winked. You do realize that you are, too. I mean, you brought me and an entire hoard over to this place.
“I did. I can’t wait for you to be able to go upstairs so you can see the lake and the sky and know that you can go flying. This is a warm, lovely, safe place down here, but it is underground. I like to be able to see out.” In fact, Mercury loved to be able to sit and watch dragons for hours.
So, what happens after I get out of this place?
“Well, we go see the seer. That’s what I did. And then they give you an apartment. And then you find a job.”
Donnal’s head tilted. What kind of a job?
How would he know? “What were you doing before you got trapped in the room?”
Well, I suppose you could say that I kept the treasury. It was my job to make sure the keep had enough—enough coins, enough jewels, enough resources to function.
Oh, that was a good thing. “Ah, then you’ll work with Jack. I’m pretty sure that’s what Jack does, and I know he needs help because he’s got a lot of children.”