Chapter 12 #2
Daniel heaved a big sigh. “Okay, so what do I need to do?”
“If you want to, just go find yourself a place to sit. The sand is warm, so you might find it uncomfortable. But I can get you a pillow if you want.”
“All right.” Daniel gave him a rather focused little look. “Okay, whatever you say, I’m in.”
“I appreciate that.”
He went back to the den to get Daniel a blanket or pillow to sit on and found a cushion off the couch. He really should have been more prepared for this, but it was really tough to work his way up to it, so he just sort of spontaneously did it.
He came back, handing Daniel the cushion and then motioned him toward the corner of the space along the wall. “You don’t want to be too close to begin with, love.”
Hayden knew he was going to end up wanting to preen a little bit for Daniel and show off.
But he also knew if he got Daniel away from the door, he could block him off before he could just run away.
He felt kind of awful about that because surely Daniel’s first instinct would be to flee when faced with such a large creature and one as fierce as Hayden looked in his dragon form.
Daniel seemed small, pushed back up against the wall, knees pulled up under his chin, and arms wrapped around just watching him with those blue eyes. “It’s going to be okay, Hayden. Whatever this is, we’re going to figure it out together, you and me.”
Hayden smiled. “We will.”
Because one way or the other, no matter what, Daniel was still a dragon, and Daniel was eventually going change.
So in the weirdest of ways, this was a kindness.
This way Daniel wouldn’t shift when he was trying to deal with Jacks and then freak out and not know what to do.
Hayden took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and let his dragon come to him. It had been a while; he was a little rusty, but the heat of the sand and the gaze of his mate on his body made him want to do himself proud.
So he shifted in a rush. He was a black and gold dragon with hints of red along his facial ridges and horns, and he had an enormous wingspan. He knew that he was bigger than any other dragon he’d ever heard of, but that didn’t mean he was the biggest one there was.
Still, he dwarfed Daniel in this form, and he imagined he must look like something straight out of hell.
He stood on his hind legs, spreading his wings, his tail anchoring him to the floor of the sand pit, and waited.
Daniel was perfectly still.
The only way that Hayden even knew his Daniel was alive was the pounding of his mate’s heart, which he could hear beating alongside his.
He hated that Daniel was so frightened, but Daniel didn’t run.
It’s still me, he thought. I’m still in here. I know you. I’m not mindless.
Daniel blinked at the words, and that was something, but Daniel didn’t answer.
It’s me, Daniel, it’s Hayden, I promise.
I’ve really been hearing you in my head, haven’t I? I’m not crazy.
No, love, you’re not crazy. You’ve totally been hearing me and Jacks in your head. The ladies can hear us too, but they have a harder time talking back to anyone they don’t know as well as they do me.
Hayden closed his wings and lowered himself down, resting his head on the sand a mere few feet away from Daniel’s legs. He didn’t move again, though, letting Daniel feel the air he was breathing, letting Daniel see his eyes.
Daniel slowly unfurled, his sweet little body shaking violently. “This isn’t possible, but…but you’re right here. Do you bite?”
Well…I know how, he teased, praying that levity was a good answer to all of this. Daniel blinked at him then huffed out a panicked sound.
“That does sound like you, for sure. I don’t know what to do.
” Daniel shrugged a little bit and rocked side to side for a second.
“I honestly don’t know what to do. Now I can see why you were worried.
” Then his mate wiggled his eyebrows. “But I’m not catatonic, am I? That must make me like super amazing.”
Hayden nodded his head, inching his muzzle as close as he could without touching. I think you’re amazing. I have to admit I always have. You don’t have to do anything; you can just sit right there and we can talk. As far as I’ve ever known, there’s no rules for this kind of thing.
“So, everybody here is a dragon?”
No, no. The ladies and the gardener are… well, they’re…unique. That was the easiest way to explain it.
“I don’t think I want to know what that means. I mean, they are unique, but what do you mean exactly?”
They’re here to take care of me, and I take care of them. We have a mutually beneficial life, and really, that’s that.
“So, what, they just showed up one day, and ta-da!”
Basically, yes. Or, well, the gardener absolutely came with the house. He’s been here for a very long time. The ladies had been with him since before he could remember, a quiet, gentle pair who made his life amazing.
He tried his best to make theirs amazing too.
“Are you the scary old man that the people in town told me lived here?” Daniel asked, leaning toward him a bit.
That was a good sign, he thought. Oh no, that was the gardener. Every so often he sheds his skin and comes back renewed. He’ll disappear for a winter and come back and be young.
Daniel’s eyes went wide, then narrowed. “Oh. Okay. I’m sure you’re disappointed about me.”
What? He lifted his head, shocked. What are you talking about?
“Well, obviously I’m just a guy. Jacks needs someone special so you can help him do dragon-y things…”
He weaved his head, stretching his neck a bit. That was more of a challenge than he remembered. He needed to shift more often. Actually, I asked the agency specifically not to send me someone dragon-y, and I do believe that they messed up and sent you.
“I’m pretty sure I don’t know what that means, and—” Daniel tilted his head. “Did you just say that you asked the agency not to send you a dragon?”
That’s what I said, yes. He’d just outed an entire agency, which was going to be problematic, he could tell.
Daniel unfurled and stood, starting to pace back and forth.
“There’s a lot to unpack here. I’m going to start with the most obvious and trickle down.
” Daniel stopped and stared at him. “Why on earth did you want a non-dragon to be a nanny for your obviously very well-advanced baby? Someone was going to notice he wasn’t a normal dragon baby.
I noticed. That doesn’t seem very smart. And I know you’re very smart.”
Hayden shrugged. He has to be able to function in the human world. I thought a human would be the best person to teach him that.
Daniel stared at him. “He can talk to people with his mind , and he’s like twice the size of a normal baby. Someone was bound to notice. Like I said, I noticed!”
This was going so much better than he’d worried it was going to.
Honestly.
Well, I had intended to explain at some point…
Daniel scowled at him. “Like this? You were just going to share this with any nanny?”
No, of course not. You’re not just a nanny, you’re my mate.
Daniel’s eyebrows went up even higher if that was possible. “Your what?”
My mate. The one dragon in all the universe who is supposed to be with me. You have to admit it, Daniel, we have a connection.
“Somehow I’m starting to believe I have fallen and hit my head. Maybe Jacks knocked me over. He’s strong enough. He could do it if he threw himself at me really hard. But then that worries me because what if he’s sitting on top of me and I’m unconscious?”
Things were starting to slide sideways a little bit, and he was worried that Daniel was cracking right down the middle. Hayden blew a soft breath of warm air from his nose out over Daniel’s legs, trying to soothe him.
You haven’t fallen, you haven’t hit your head, and you’re not unconscious. You’re right here with me, and I’m in my dragon form. It’s been a long time since I did this, and I’m really itching to roll around in the sand and polish my scales a little bit.
He was hoping by giving Daniel access to those kinds of thoughts, it might intrigue him and make him want to hang around and see what Hayden did next.
“Can I touch you? Can I feel the scales?”
Daniel’s soft question made his heart race, made him want to roar his triumph. But that would just scare Daniel, he was sure.
So he just pushed his muzzle against Daniel’s legs and blinked. Of course you can touch me, love. I want you to touch me. It will feel really good. I really like it when someone scratches right above my eye ridges. That’s a hard-to-get-to place for me, and I always itch.
Daniel’s face took on a sympathetic expression, and he stepped around to the side of Hayden’s head, showing no fear, reaching out to scratch right over his eye.
Hayden hummed deep in his throat, the sound coming out, a reverberating tone in his dragon form. Oh, that feels so good.
Daniel chuckled. “That definitely sounds like you. One would think you really are a hedonist.”
That’s because I really, really am one. Oh, right there. He tilted his head just slightly to one side, and Daniel made an “oofing” noise as he staggered a little bit. He forgot about the size differential sometimes.
Daniel had an awed look on his face, staring at Hayden hard even as his fingers moved. “You really do have scales,” he said. “This isn’t some sort of weird projected illusion. You really are like this. This is really you.”
This is really me.
“Is this what Jacks is going to look like? Is he going to be red, black, and gold like you?” Daniel traced a vein of gold that ran down the side of his face, going from the tip of his eye crease to where his mouth started. He knew it was there because it was actually a scar.
I don’t know what he’s going to look like to be sure. We’re not related as far as I know. He really is an orphan, but he was brought to me because he was a dragon and he needed a parent. Does that make more sense to you now?