Chapter 10
Nikki eyed the clock above the fireplace. It was nearing that time. And their grumbling stomach let them know it, too.
Most of the time, Nikki passed the day with Gunter in peaceful silence.
They both had their own things to read and research, and when it got too quiet, Nikki could sidle in closer to Gunter and ask what he was doing.
Right now the silence was weighing on Nikki.
They’d now kissed Gunter twice and gotten zilch. Zip. Nada.
What did a person have to do to rev up a dragon’s engine?
Seriously, Nikki was starting to wonder if this attraction was all one sided.
Gunter did like them hanging around, though. Nikki was confident in that. And sometimes Gunter looked at Nikki in a way that made Nikki’s heart flutter. The more time passed, the more comfortable Gunter was swooping in and picking Nikki up, too.
Maybe Nikki just needed to give him more time? He did have a lot on his plate to think about.
Although honestly, waiting had no appeal. Nikki and patience weren’t exactly buddies.
Sighing, they looked down at their grumbling stomach. Maybe a good meal would give Nikki some sort of inspiration about what to do next. Right now, they were certainly coming up empty.
Nikki got up and nudged him, a single-finger poke against the shoulder. “Gunter.”
The dragon grunted without looking up.
“Gunter, lunch? It’s noon.” Nikki waited to see if those words penetrated.
It took a second, but Gunter’s head finally lifted. He looked first at Nikki, then the clock. “Oh. Oh, you’re right! Alright, let’s go up, then.”
Nikki stepped back, giving Gunter room to rise, satisfied.
They enjoyed watching the dragon stretch his long arms above his head while releasing a happy sigh with the pop of weary joints.
There was an elegance to Gunter’s slender frame and height.
He was a rather swan-like dragon which, in their opinion was much better than the big, lumbering dragons.
It wasn’t like Nikki didn’t know where the dining hall was.
That wasn’t the issue. For one, lots of mages were up there.
Nikki still wasn’t comfortable around them, although they were beginning to think the Burkhard mages weren’t so bad.
Sora and Tori were okay; so was Cassie. It was a work in progress.
The main reason Nikki poked Gunter was something else entirely. If Nikki didn’t get Gunter out of that chair, the dragon would stay fused to it until he passed out from hunger. Nikki would lay even odds on that.
But Gunter didn’t take reminders of meals with any seriousness. So, Nikki played up their fear a little just to get Gunter reliably out of his chair three times a day.
One could say the care and feeding of a dragon required certain subterfuge.
They went up the many, many stairs to the main dining hall.
Living here was something of a workout. Nikki’s legs were constantly sore from all the stairs.
They would surely get used to it, after a while, but right now it took nightly baths with Epsom salts and a few judicious spell ingredients to keep the aches away.
Gunter cast them a quick study as they rounded a corner. “Are you still nervous about coming up here to eat? I promise, every member of my clan is completely trustworthy. You don’t need to be nervous with them.”
Nikki blinked sad, ingenious eyes at him. “I just feel better if you’re with me.”
“Oh.” Gunter didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. (Or realize that Nikki had an agenda, dammit. That was the frustrating part.) “Well, I guess it doesn’t hurt. You’ll get used to them at your own pace. I hope you will, because I want you to be comfortable here.”
“Thanks, Gunter.” Still no fight. Good. Although Nikki had several alternative plans for when Gunter got stubborn.
“We had to do that with Tori, too,” Gunter recalled as they walked. “Although he was the opposite of you. He didn’t like dragons.”
Nikki almost tripped over their own feet. “Wait, what?! How can you not trust dragons?”
“Part of the teachings of his clan. They taught that dragons were the ones who caused the Dragon War, not the other way around.” Gunter shook his head and made a soft clucking noise with his tongue.
“His clan is very…troubled. And even saying that is an understatement. We’re still trying to help them. ”
“And Tori believed this?” They still couldn’t wrap their brain around this. How could anyone believe dragons were evil?
“It’s what he was taught all his life. Just like you were taught all your life mages were bad.
When he escaped from his clan, and Baldewin first approached him, he put a paralysis spell on Baldewin and Warin.
Tori fought them tooth and nail about coming back to the castle.
If the Jaeggi hadn’t been actively trying to kidnap him, I’m not sure he’d ever have agreed. ”
This was unbelievable. Dragons had always been the epitome of a dream for Nikki.
How could anyone possibly ever fear them?
And yeah, okay, the dig about Nikki being taught to mistrust mages had hit a little too close to home.
They squirmed a bit under it. Nikki was making progress, though!
They didn’t think every mage in the clan was horrible.
“He’s brilliant with herbology. Seriously gifted.
We’re blessed to have him for that reason alone, but he’s a really good man, too.
I find him a good listener. If you want a listening ear, Tori would be the one to talk to.
” Gunter reached out as if he meant to place his hand on Nikki’s shoulder but seemed to catch himself and awkwardly drop it to his side again.
“He also grew up in an abusive environment, so he’d get it. ”
Be that as it may, Nikki was hesitant to approach Tori. It felt like a serious imposition. And they weren’t sure if Tori was just being nice when he’d made the offer.
They entered the dining hall, saving Nikki from answering. The large room was filled with thunderous noise from conversations, regularly punctuated by bursts of laughter. The cacophony was normal, as any gathering of dragons produced noise.
Nikki understood from Gunter that it used to be quieter than this, but they had a lot of guests from other clans right now, mages and dragons alike. Enough to fill the dining room to capacity. It seemed like an ongoing party every time Nikki entered.
Personally, Nikki liked the warmth and exuberance that filled this room. It felt like a happy family all gathered together. Nikki had never experienced camaraderie before, but the atmosphere felt like a giant hug from everyone gathered.
It also didn’t hurt that the food was delicious.
Gunter drew in a deep breath and then made a noise of pleasure in the back of his throat. “Seems we’re having Indian cuisine today. I smell naan.”
“Is that good?”
“You’ve not had Indian before?”
Nikki shrugged. They’d not had a variety of cuisines while under the ‘care’ of the Jaeggi. Mostly pre-boxed and canned foods that could be easily reheated. Why take care of someone only there as a battery source?
Remembering made them angry. Almost irrationally angry, and there was nothing to readily do to diffuse the emotion.
Nikki chose to ignore it much of the time.
Their childhood was so completely fucktangular, it would take decades of therapy to straighten it out.
And lots of things set them off. For instance, food.
Nikki’s food allotment had never been enough and always the same types, things easily heated out of a box or can.
The food in Burkhard was a gourmet’s feast in comparison.
It was very, very hard to not overindulge with every meal.
With a deep breath, Nikki took firm hold on this present moment, shoving past trauma to the side.
Focus on food, Nikki. Rather amazing-smelling food, at that. “I’d love to try it.”
“It’s generally spicy. Are you good with spice?”
“I like spice.” Nikki took a closer look at the buffet table as they approached. Nothing looked remotely familiar, but it really did smell good.
Gunter, because he was kindness personified, pointed to each dish and explained what it was and what it was made of. It helped Nikki choose what to put on their plate. But they also noticed Gunter chose only the meat and carbs—the korma, rice, and naan, to be precise.
Why did he avoid vegetables all the time? Seriously, the dragon was worse than a child. Nikki had seen it play out time and again on the sitcoms they watched, of how important veggies were. Parents were always telling children to eat more veggies.
Nikki made sure to put a vegetable dish with a second helping on their plate. They’d sneak it over to Gunter’s at the right moment.
For goodness’ sake, feeding a dragon shouldn’t take this much strategy and forethought. There had been wars waged with less strategy than this.
By some miracle, they found two open chairs next to each other and settled into them. Nikki was relieved to see dragons on all sides, so they didn’t have to worry about interacting with mages, at least. It gave them the peace of mind to eat.
Tentative sampling of each dish proved Gunter right—it was all delicious. They dove in with more gusto, keeping one eye on Gunter while they waited for the opportune moment to strike.
When it did, Nikki was ready. Half of their vegetables promptly slid onto Gunter’s plate, nestled next to the naan.
Gunter was more alert than Nikki had given him credit for, though, and instantly paused, glass in hand. “Nikki, why are you putting vegetables on my plate?”
“Because you never put them on your plate,” Nikki said stubbornly, their eyebrow arched in challenge.
Gunter rolled his ice-blue eyes in an obvious prayer for patience. “It’s not like I’m a growing boy.”
“How do you expect your brain to function if you don’t feed it what it needs?” Nikki asked, the eyebrow not dropping.
“How do you even know that?”
“TV, how else do you think I know that?”
Gunter rolled his eyes again, expressively, but the next bite he took was of the vegetables.