Chapter 12
Agent Murphy
“I’m all done.” Collapsing back on the floor again got another giggle from Klynn who seemed to love my dramatic responses. “Timber is hard work and my blocks keep wobbling. I need food. And cuddles. And more kisses.”
He was getting a kick out of me being ridiculous, so I played up the bid for attention. “And stories. I was promised stories.”
Sighing just like a tortured Daddy, Klynn shook his head. “Stories are for bedtime. Cleanup time and then I have a special dinner for you because you tried hard and were a good boy. Mostly.”
A special dinner?
How could I get him to define that without sounding like a picky eater?
“I was very good.” Sitting up, I gave him a very earnest look and smiled. “I made the blocks go timber and I made them stick together and I worked very hard.”
And I’d made him laugh…actually laugh.
Klynn the full grown-up smiled for me sometimes and made that soft sound that was definitely showing his emotions, but Klynn the adorable little actually made laughing sounds and rolled his eyes and gave me kisses when I’d been a good boy.
He was adorable when he was playing Daddy.
“You were very good.” And that got me another cheek kiss because evidently that was what Daddies did. “Now it’s time to pick up our toys. Do you need the song?”
The song?
Klynn pulled the plastic-looking bucket that definitely wasn’t plastic closer and started humming. “Some boys need the cleanup song.”
Oh.
Having a vague recollection of hearing it on TV or maybe at a club on little night, I sighed and shrugged and slowly picked up one block and put it in the bucket. “See? I’m a good boy.”
As long as he stretched the definition.
He couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or roll his eyes, but either way, he squared his shoulders and got back into his Daddy role. “Yes. You need the song.”
Because some littles were just high-maintenance.
As he started to sing with a sweet and clearly little tone, he nodded toward the toys and I knew it was time to go faster. Songs were meant to help, so I showed him I was his good boy and picked up the blocks.
The amazingly magical blocks that only stayed together if I told them to.
From what he’d said they were basically babies’ first magical training toys to help them learn to focus the tiny magic they were born with, but I didn’t mind having the magical limitations of a dragon toddler. It was a start in the right direction…hopefully.
I was going to have more questions at some point, but for the time being, others seemed more important. Like what would make a dinner special and if I was going to have to eat dinosaurs again…and how in the hell they had castles that were right out of a medieval European setting.
But quizzing Klynn would’ve taken him out of his little headspace, so I pushed castle questions to the back of my mind and stayed focused on the important things…being dramatic and picking up the blocks. “I’m all done.”
Mostly.
Falling back on the floor again, I sighed. “I’m starving. I need food. I need juice. I need attention.”
Mumbling something about some boys having a hard time being good, Klynn reached over and patted my head as I aimed a pout in his direction. “I think dinner and cuddles are a good idea. You’ll get lots of attention then.”
That seemed to be an early bedtime kind of reference, but I was all for that because cuddling with him sounded amazing. “I need attention. I’m broke.”
I might not have had a little of my own, but I’d seen enough amazing drama queens at the club to be able to imitate one.
“You need kisses.” Klynn shrugged like there was nothing he could do about it. “But I still see blocks. Are you being a good boy?”
Nope…but I was being a boy who got lots of attention and made Klynn laugh.
“Good boys get lots of hugs and attention.” Being stubborn again, I scrunched my face into a dramatic pout I’d seen on an amazingly stubborn pain-in-the-ass little and held out my arms. “I’m ready.”
That got me more adorable grumbling sounds that big Klynn would’ve never made and I loved every one of them. “Yes, you are very something.”
As I fought to keep a straight face as he repeated something he had to have read in a book, he sighed and leaned over to kiss my cheek again. “I need a good helper if you want more cuddles.”
Hmm.
“What kind of cuddles?” I made sure to look properly suspicious as I slowly sat up again. “Big cuddles?”
Klynn nodded but I could see his brain whirling. “Yes…if you’re a good helper I’ll…give you big cuddles on the bed after dinner. You’ll like those.”
Yes, I would.
“With kisses? I need kisses too.” I was a pain in the ass, but I dug out a few blocks that’d ended up under the bed, putting them in the bucket. “Lots of kisses.”
“Lots of kisses.” Klynn helped me find the last few stray blocks behind us and put them back on the shelf with the magic doors that quickly went back into place as soon as he had the castle back in its place.
Fucking castles.
I’d spent years in Germany and I’d been to every castle that was open to the public and even some ruins that weren’t. It was amazing what diplomats had access to when they were being wined and dined, but now it was making me question the version of history I’d been taught.
“All done.” Clapping at our wonderful cleanup, Klynn gave me another sweet peck and stood up. And because he was Daddy, he reached out to take my hand and help me up. “Good boy.”
Daddies obviously gave copious amounts of praise, which I filed away for the next time we had little time where I might actually be the Daddy. But littles liked praise and that gave me the perfect excuse to give him a hug. “I was a good helper. I picked up the blocks.”
He sighed, an adorably dramatic sound, and nodded before kissing my cheek again. “You did a very good job and now we get to have a special dinner.”
He kept my hand as he led me out into the kitchen and sat me down at the table, something else with the weird not-quite-plastic feeling. “You sit and you can keep me company. That’s an important job.”
I was pretty sure he just wanted me out of the way so I couldn’t do anything dangerous to myself, but I nodded. “I’m your good boy.”
That was my fallback response to nearly everything and I was impressed with how well it worked…and how well it got him acting all dramatic. He clearly questioned my definition of what good meant. “Yes, you’re going to be very good for me.”
Adorable.
“What kind of special dinner are we going to have?” Since I had no desire to end up magically burned or somehow trapped in the disappearing fridge, I stayed put as he nearly skipped around the small space. “What other toys do you have for us to play with?”
Blocks seemed to be his passion based on what he’d said and hadn’t said, but I wasn’t sure what other things he liked playing with. His frown said there’d been some kind of issue with my question, though. “I have blocks.”
Quietly muttering something about needing to keep me entertained, he frowned like a Daddy that was concentrating hard as he moved around the kitchen.
“Do you know that dragons have hoards? Mages say they don’t but there is always something they’re attracted to and want to keep. But that’s not a hoard. Nope. No, Sir.”
Oh, I could see that being a wonderfully ridiculous topic to bring up in the diner the next time they were driving me insane.
“Are they private?” I wasn’t sure if what I’d heard was real or not. “What are the manners rules for hoards?”
For some reason that made him smile like he thought I was adorable. “You ask very good questions.”
And that was cute, why?
“Thank you.” I blew him a kiss to keep him in the playful headspace he’d found and I got another giggle.
“Well, I think the best English word is private but dragons aren’t ashamed of their hoards.” Klynn paused, looking more thoughtful as he made the fridge thing rise up out of the countertop.
If there was a seam for the damned thing I hadn’t found it yet, but I would. I was resourceful and stubborn.
“We just don’t talk about them unless we have to.” He shrugged as he pulled out something, blocking my view with his body.
Sneaky boy.
“I read a book where a dragon was an all-the-time dragon and he had a hoard of gold and he protected it with fire.” Somehow the cute matter-of-factness about how he said it made me worried.
“Dragons would do that over anything, even a Lego hoard, but we’re told not to and most of the time we’re very good. ”
Most of the time?
Lego hoard?
No, he didn’t have enough Legos for that to be his hoard.
“If I got a hoard, it would be…artwork. I like pictures. Fancy pictures. Coloring pictures.” I shrugged and pretended not to notice when he got a sneaky grin on his face. “My mother’s hoard would be fancy spoons.”
When Klynn turned to me and forgot to hide his goodies completely, I knew he was confused. “Spoons? I know that word. I think I know that word.”
“You know that word.” Just not the context.
“A lot of places people on Earth go on vacation make fancy things for tourists to buy. One of the things they all make are cute little spoons. They’re just for decoration and always have a picture or something like that on the end to help you remember where you got it from. My mother has always loved those.”
She had them all over her private home office everywhere we’d lived. They were special and never shown to anyone outside the family. Yeah. She was probably some kind of dragon with a spoon hoard.
“I don’t think Toman knows about special spoons because he didn’t show me that.” Frowning, Klynn sighed and somehow produced a large cookie sheet from the area I thought was just a wall.
It was not just a wall.
What the hell was behind my walls?
“He’s missing out on spoons then.” I needed to ask more questions about that language transfer process before I requested their language. “Can I ask what your hoard is?”
What did he have around the house?
I tried not to look and be obvious, but I couldn’t remember much that’d stood out. He had small statues and what basically looked like nicknacks. I’d seen a few books. He had more blocks than anything else.
As he snickered and went back to doing his best to hide our dinner, I frowned. “What kind of objects can be in a hoard?”
He found that cute enough to actually giggle about. “Anything. We’re funny like that. It’s just something that happens. Can’t control it.”
So it could be blocks?
Kitchen utensils?
The dino nuggets and tater-tots he was trying to hide?
Thank all the gods everywhere for dino nuggets not made with actual dinosaurs, because even though they tasted like chicken, they weren’t chicken.
My brain found the whole thing incredibly confusing but I’d been incredibly polite and a good representative of the US government and of Earth.
I was going to have the best stories to brag with when I got home, though.
“Okay, I’m going to guess blocks.” I could see grown-up Klynn being so private about that he wouldn’t talk about them with anyone.
Nope.
He giggled again.
“No.” Dragging out the word, he did a cute little wiggle and then turned the pan around. “Ta-da. Dino nuggets and tatter tots. They’re from Earth.”
He was the cutest little ever.
“That’s amazing.” And very sweet for sharing his surprise with me. “I can’t wait.”
Because I wasn’t sure if it was the chemicals in our food that I was missing or not, but their cooking needed a bit more spices or something. I couldn’t describe it as plain but nothing tasted quite right.
“I can’t get in trouble for bringing Earth food either because they’re not alive.” He looked down at his prized possessions and frowned. “No one said I couldn’t bring frozen treats. Wren has ice cream.”
Tattle tale.
“I don’t see how those could cause any problems.” Not ecological ones, at least. “Maybe we could get a mage to make some for us?”
Was that a thing?
If it wasn’t, it should be because they used magic for everything.
Klynn looked slightly skeptical of the plan and turned around to make the oven magically appear too. “What…what if someone tattled?”
Oh.
“Toman can do it.” He was the least ridiculous dragon or mage I’d met. “And if we frame it right, he’ll think of it as having a surprise for Wren that he has to keep a secret.”
Klynn did a little happy dance as the food went in and the damned machine disappeared into the cabinet.
Where the fuck where the appliances?
“Yes. You’re so smart, Daddy.” Klynn bounced over, no longer pretending to be in charge. “You can do it. You’ll get me nuggets.”
When in doubt make the human look like the weird one?
Sounded like a good plan to me, and really, that was a Daddy job at the very least, so it was a fair ask. “Yes, I’ll get you nuggets and tater tots and lots of goodies we’ll keep a secret.”
Hmm.
“Is your hoard dino nuggets?”
More giggles.
Probably not, then, but it looked like I was officially the funniest Daddy ever.