How To Kiss Your Dragon (Jensen/Misha, fantasy AU, R)
Title: How To Kiss Your Dragon
Author: Vera
Pairing: Jensen/Misha, fantasy AU
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: Me no own. All the artwork was done by the amazing Jaelijn
Word Count: 8.000
Summary: When Misha stumbles upon a desperate Jensen - who has just woken up as a dragon - he decides to help him. But breaking the curse is not as easy as they are let to believe.
Author’s Note: Written for spn_reversebang and based on jaelijn’s art prompt located on tumblr or LJ. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks to grammar-savvy sleepingspero9 for beta-reading.
=> AO3 <=
It was a beautiful, sunny day. So Misha decided to leave his errands be, and instead he now ambled along a small path leading deeper into the woods so he could sit down under a willow tree and relax with some herbs. But much to his dismay, just as he was about to settle in a mossy, cozy looking spot, he heard an awful noise. It was a continuous loud screech coming from one of the trees, impossible to ignore. As he got closer, he realized that it wasn’t just one screech, it was a whole bunch of dragons making so much noise that they all blended into one.
Naturally, he went to investigate. A medium-sized red dragon was circling the tree, trying to find a perch, but the others wouldn’t let him land.
“But I don’t understand,” the red dragon was complaining helplessly. “What is wrong with you guys? Why won’t you talk to me?”
It was then that Misha realized the dragon was speaking a human tongue. And he seemed to be unable to hear the dragons yelling at him to explain what he was doing. “Calm down, guys,” Misha told them, going over with his hands outstretched. “I got this.”
The dragons quieted down a bit, and Misha pointed at the red dragon. “Hey there. You realize they don’t speak English, right?”
“What?” The dragon stopped circling and hovered in the air in front of Misha.
“Are you fucking with them, or what?” Misha frowned. “I’ve never met a multi-lingual dragon. That’s kinda cool.”
“What?” The dragon repeated, clearly confused.
“You do speak Wormtongue, don’t you?” Misha asked him in the dragons’ native language.
“Oh fuck me,” the dragon was clearly distressed. “The fucker must have fucked with my hearing, too. God dammit. Isn’t this enough?” He yelled while looking up at the skies. Then he landed a few feet away from the tree and from Misha, pulling in his wings and lying down on the ground rolled up in a ball, looking defeated.
“So…” Misha sat down in front of the dragon, having switched back to English. “I’m sensing there’s a story here.” Misha had never seen a dragon pout, but this one kind of was. It was adorable.
The dragon raised his head. “Just fuck off and leave me alone in my misery. I don’t need any more elves screwing with me.”
Misha rubbed his ears self-consciously, momentarily taken aback. “I’m not like other elves,” he offered.
The dragon turned around so he wasn’t facing Misha. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m not usually… I don’t care what you are.”
Misha raised his eyebrow, bemused. “Why, thank you. That means a lot, coming from a dragon.”
“I’m not a dragon,” the dragon grumbled.
“I figured,” Misha replied, smiling when the dragon turned his way again. He wasn’t stupid. Going by the dragon’s unusual facial expressions and language, there was only one solution. “Let me guess… You’re a human who got cursed by an elf?”
The dragon’s tail thumped on the ground as he unrolled and stood up. “Yes? How the hell did you guess that?” He crept closer to Misha, chest thrust out, head held high, obviously trying to be intimidating. “Do you know who cursed me?”
“No, sorry.” Misha held his hands up again. “It just seemed obvious?” And wasn’t this a weird conversation. He looked at the satchel of herbs still attached to his belt. Nope, he was definitely still sober.
“So you do this often? Curse humans?” The dragon’s collar puffed out and his tail was curved up as if ready to strike. “She could have fucking warned me.”
“She?” Misha asked.
“Danneel.” The dragon’s posture relaxed visibly, tail curling up on the ground again and he took on an almost serene look. “The prettiest girl in my village.”
Misha snorted. “You think you got cursed for sleeping with an elf?”
“Well, we finally…” The dragon trailed off. “And then I woke up like this.”
Misha bit off a snort. “Hate to break it to you, but if every human I fucked ended up a dragon, you’d have a lot of friends to chat with.” He winked.
“But human / elf relationships are… strongly discouraged,” the dragon argued.
“Like I care,” Misha rolled his eyes. “And you obviously don’t have a problem with it either.”
The dragon smirked. “I’m Jensen, by the way.”
“Misha,” Misha replied, holding out his hand instinctively. The dragon - Jensen - bumped his head against it, causing Misha to laugh. “This is scientifically interesting though, how you still speak English, but with a dragon’s tongue.”
“What do you mean?” Jensen asked.
“I can hear you, but only because I am attuned to Wormtongue. It’s hard to explain. You are speaking English, which is why the dragons can’t understand you, but you are also speaking with a dragon’s mouth, which is why humans probably have a hard time understanding you.” Misha bit his lip. Man, that really sucked for Jensen.
“That explains a lot.” Jensen slumped back down, letting his head loll onto his paws in defeat.
Misha hesitated a moment, then he reached over and petted Jensen’s head. “There, there, little dragon.”
Jensen bristled and immediately the collar was puffed up again. “Fuck off, you motherfucker. I am taller than you.”
“Right now, you’re not.” Misha couldn’t help a laugh. The dragon was just so damn cute when he got agitated like this. Misha knew better than to tell him though. For all he knew, Jensen was able to spew fire. Also, he generally didn’t want to alienate him. “Listen, I got a friend…” Misha started. Though 'friend' was probably stretching it, in this case. But Jensen didn’t need to know the details. “He’s a wizard. He might be able to help.”
“Really?” Jensen’s tail thumped again, anger apparently forgotten. “So what are we waiting for? Take me now!”
Misha sighed, glancing at his satchel longingly. “Right now?”
Jensen moved closer, head butting Misha’s knee. “I would be endlessly grateful if you could help me, Misha.”
Misha’s eyes narrowed, looking at the tiny dragon now nuzzling his thigh. Interesting, how quickly Jensen had changed tactics. “How grateful?”
“Ew!” Jensen jumped back immediately. “You… you pervert! You…”
Misha laughed again. “Relax, dragon. I’m just messing with you.” Maybe it wasn’t nice, since Jensen clearly needed his help, but… Misha couldn’t help himself. He stood up and held his hand out for the dragon to perch on.
The dragon refused and took flight instead, hovering close to Misha’s head. “You’re an asshole.”
“Been called worse,” Misha grinned.
“Bet you deserved it,” Jensen snarked back, but he followed Misha without further complaint.
Together they travelled back through the forest and towards the main road. But soon Jensen’s wings started flapping erratically and he was having trouble keeping pace with Misha. He was either too fast or too slow.
“I know you don’t need my help, but you can perch on my shoulder, if you want to,” Misha offered.
“I’m fine,” Jensen replied, voice tense.
“You’ve been a dragon for how long?” Misha questioned. “One day?”
“Woke up like this yesterday morning,” Jensen admitted. “I thought flying at least would be fun, but it’s hard.” His voice had gotten quieter.
“You’ll get used to it,” Misha reassured him, patting his shoulder invitingly. But Jensen still refused.
“You think I’ll stay like this?” Jensen asked sadly.
“That’s not what I meant.” Misha shook his head. “I’m sure Jared can help you.” If he’d be willing to.
Jensen puffed out hot air and flew a few feet ahead of Misha, constantly looking back to make sure he was on the right track. Twenty minutes later they reached the inn Misha was staying at. He always booked here when he was in this part of the country. It wasn’t too expensive and nobody asked questions. Still, entering with a dragon in tow probably wasn’t the best idea, so Jensen waited outside and joined Misha in his room once Misha opened the window for him to fly through.
Jensen settled down on Misha’s bed with a heavy breath and watched him putter about with various herbs and liquids. Misha was sure there was a question on his tongue, but Jensen just seemed too wiped to summon the energy and ask. His suspicions were confirmed when a few minutes later, soft snoring could be heard from the dragon’s rolled up form. Misha resisted the urge to go back over and pet him again. He simply couldn’t help it; he had always thought dragons were really cute. But while it was ok for them to talk to him once he’d learned their language, they still never came close enough to allow Misha to touch them. Jensen wasn’t really a dragon, though - or else he probably would have singed Misha’s hide a few times already. Somehow, his sad story made Misha want to comfort him - and thus pet him - even more.
However, just as Misha had finished his set up, and before he could shake Jensen awake - gently, of course - Jensen woke back up on his own. He shook himself before trotting to the edge of the bed, peering at Misha. “So, I take it, you’re magic, too?”
“I know a few spells, if that’s what you mean.” Misha beamed at him. “Otherwise I think we’re all magic, each and every single creature.”
Jensen bristled. “You’re such an elf.”
“Why, thank you.” Misha winked and painted a few charcoal signs on the mirror. “Ready?” He quickly mumbled the summoning spell and when he was done, the signs glowed a bright yellow before disappearing. Instead of a reflection, now Jared could be seen through the glass. His back to the mirror, he was dancing to a beat he hummed himself until suddenly he froze and turned around.
“Who summons m…” He intoned in a loud, intimidating baritone until he spotted Misha. “Misha? What the fuck? Couldn’t you have knocked first?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know how to do that. Is that one of the spells you refused to teach me?” Misha countered.
Jared’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to the mirror. “What do you want?” His voice was icy again.
Jensen took that as his cue to hop onto the counter so he’d be closer to the mirror. “Yeah, uh, hi. I seem to be in a predicament I hope you can help me with.”
Jared paused. “An English speaking dragon. How droll. Have you finally found your match, Misha?” He smirked at the other man, his expression less than kind.
“Shut up,” Misha sighed, passing a hand through his hair. “He’s been cursed. He’s human.”
“Well, of course he’s been cursed,” Jared retorted. “Dragons are far too stupid to learn a new language.”
“Hey!” Misha glared at the wizard. Jared’s arrogance had been one of the reasons why it never could have worked out between them. “Could you, for once, please get off your high horse and help him?”
“Oh wow, you said please. I didn’t think I’d ever get you begging me again. Brings up fond memories, doesn’t it?” Jared gave him a sardonic grin.
Misha was about to reply when his eyes fell onto the dragon. He had to swallow his pride; but obviously just asking nicely wasn’t getting him anywhere. “Yeah, I get it. You can’t help him. Guess you’re not the great wizard you always said you were after all.”
Jared’s eyes narrowed. “I know what you’re doing. But lucky for you, I’m feeling charitable today.” His gaze fixed on the dragon. “Do you know who cursed you?”
“No,” Jensen replied. “I woke up like this.”
“Hm,” Jared cocked his head. “And what were you doing right before you fell asleep?”
“Uhm…” If possible, the dragon’s red deepened. “I slept with an elf.”
“I see,” Jared pointed towards Misha. “It didn’t happen to be this elf, did it?”
“What? No,” Jensen looked up at Misha. “Someone else.”
“If you won’t tell me anything, I’m not able to help you,” Jared raised his arm, about to end the transmission.
“Wait!” Misha stopped him. “What does it matter who he slept with? You already know how to cure that curse, don’t you?”
Jared’s startled look was all the reply Misha needed. “A kiss,” Jared told them. “It can be cured with a kiss.” He moved closer to the mirror. “And that’s as far as my charity goes. Good day.” He waved his hand and the mirror splintered into shards, some of them almost hitting Jensen.
“Ugh, that arrogant prick,” Misha quickly scooped Jensen out of the way. “He could have just blocked the view. Now I’m gonna have to pay for damages.”
“So…” Jensen was lying in Misha’s arm and looking up at him hopefully. “You think he’s right? You think a simple kiss is gonna cure me?”
Misha shrugged and put Jensen down on his bed again before kneeling down in front of it. “Can’t know until we’ve tried.”
”You’re just gonna kiss me? Just like that? No demands or payment required?” Jensen looked down at himself. “I mean, I’m a dragon.”
“I don’t judge,” Misha smiled. He placed his hand on the dragon’s back and pulled him closer before planting a soft kiss on his snout. Then he pulled back and they both waited. Misha touched his lips. “That was colder than expected. And kind of wet.” He tried to make light of the situation.
“Ugh, shut up,” Jensen bristled. “Don’t tell me we need to do this again but with tongue.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Misha frowned. “But seeing as you haven’t turned back by now…” He’d really thought Jared was telling the truth.
“Maybe it works in my sleep. Maybe I just need to go to bed and wake up again.” Jensen tried to be optimistic.
“Yeah, maybe,” Misha admitted, even though he didn’t really believe it. “You wanna stay here? In case you wake up human; you wouldn’t want to wake up stark naked in the middle of the forest.”
The dragon shuddered. “Thank you, Misha. For everything.”
Misha nodded, setting his pillow down onto the ground so Jensen could roll up on it. “Goodnight, Jensen. Hope to meet you properly tomorrow.”
“You just wanna see me naked,” Jensen muttered silently. “Pervert.”
Misha smiled and reached down to pet the dragon’s head, delighted when Jensen let him. Then he got ready for bed himself.
The next morning, Misha was woken up by a loud crash. His initial thought, that Jensen was cured, was soon smashed however, when he heard more things crashing to the floor - accompanied by the frantic flapping of wings. He opened his eyes to find Jensen tearing through his magic supply.
“That’s not gonna help,” Misha mumbled before letting out a loud yawn. “In fact, that’s counter-productive to me contacting Jared again to ask that little weasel to clarify.” Jared knew more than he’d been saying, of that Misha was sure. He’d come up with a cure way too quickly.
Jensen stopped with a bunch of dried leaves between his teeth and landed in the rubble with a huff. “Sorry.”
Misha sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Alright, let me take a shower and then we’ll give Jared another call.”
After Misha had cleaned up, he filled the sink for Jensen to wash up in. The dragon gratefully accepted, even if he seemed to be embarrassed about taking a bath in Misha’s sink.
While Jensen splashed about, Misha cleaned up his stash and then prepared the spell in front of the tiny bathroom mirror. But when he said the spell this time, nothing happened. Misha tried again, pressing on the mirror with his hand to strengthen the magic. However, when he’d completed the spell, he could feel the mirror ripple and repel him.
“That bastard!” Misha frowned. Now he definitely knew that Jared hadn’t been honest with them the day before. “It seems as if Jared’s blocking my calls.”
Jensen looked up from the towel he was nestled in to get dry, probably also because it provided warmth and comfort, Misha guessed. From what he knew, dragons got cold pretty quickly. That was one reason why they stayed in packs, to keep each other warm.
“Don’t worry,” Misha reassured him. “That’s not my only means of communication.” With a sigh, he reached for his shaving knife, then retreated into the main room to pick up one of his bowls. He cut his wrist and let the blood drip into the bowl, putting a cloth onto his skin to still the bleeding once he felt he’d had enough blood.
“Jeeze,” Jensen had come in to watch him. “That doesn’t look so good. You don’t have to kill yourself for me.” He moved closer, butting his head against Misha’s leg.
Misha reached down to pet him. “Don’t worry. This is personal now. Jared might be screwing with you to get back at me.”
“There’s a story here that I would like to know. But not while you’re bleeding all over the carpet.” Jensen extracted himself from Misha’s hand and butted his leg again.
Misha smiled and checked his wrist. The bleeding had almost stopped. Time to make his call. He reached a finger into the bowl and stirred his blood in circles while muttering a new spell.
After a few turns, Jared appeared in the bowl, looking impressed. “Wow, blood magic. Really, Misha? I definitely didn’t teach you that.”
“You were not my only master,” Misha replied cryptically.
“You wound me,” Jared placed his hands over his heart in a big gesture. Then his grin turned nasty again. “I was certainly the only one willing to take on such a poor, low level elf as yourself. Look where that’s gotten us, Mish.”
“I don’t recall you facing any repercussions for it,” Misha huffed. In fact, after things between them didn’t work out, Jared denounced him and Misha had the hardest time finding another teacher. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Bygones. I was wondering why your little cure didn’t help. Any ideas about that?”
“Aw, the kiss didn't help?” Jared wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Guess Jensen’s gonna be stuck like this forever then. Give him my deepest regrets.” And with that, Jared snapped his fingers and he vanished from the bowl.
Misha cursed and almost threw the bowl against the wall, but thought better of it. He looked down at Jensen who held his gaze.
“Wait,” Jensen frowned. “Can he read minds or something?”
”Not that I know of,” Misha frowned. “And definitely not from this distance anyway. Why do you ask?”
“He knew my name,” Jensen stated.
“Because we told him,” Misha said, but then he paused and replayed the conversations they had with Jared. “Oh, that son of a bitch!”
“We didn’t tell him?” Jensen hopped up onto the bed so Misha wouldn’t have to look down at him anymore.
“We didn’t,” Misha confirmed. He cocked his head. “What village was that girl from again?”
“Danneel?”
“Yeah. Danneel.” Misha nodded. “It wasn’t anywhere near Lafayette, was it?”
Jensen’s tail thumped. “That’s her hometown. How’d you know that?”
“That’s where Jared’s from,” Misha informed him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Jared had probably been the one to curse Jensen himself. But why? While Jared scoffed at inter-species relationships, he wouldn’t just curse a random guy because of it. “You’ve never met him though?”
“No. I would’ve remembered.” Jensen laid down on his front feet. “What now?”
“Now we’re travelling to Lafayette and confronting a wizard.” Misha rubbed his temples. Damn, this was bad though. Jared was powerful. Way more powerful than Misha. He’d only taught him an inkling of what he could do, and afterwards Misha had only found a few shady magicians to teach him black magic. He hadn’t wanted to get into it too deep; it wasn’t the kind of magic he’d set out to learn. So he settled on teaching himself and became an errand boy and messenger instead. It suited him just fine. He got to travel the country and had enough free time to pursue his other interests. Now though, he wished he’d gotten deep into the black arts, so he’d be able to teach Jared a lesson.
It was a three days’ ride to Lafayette. After a brief discussion, Jensen conceded that he should travel along in Misha’s messenger bag instead of flying right beside him. Misha’s horse, Justine, was too fast for Jensen to keep up with.
They spent their first morning mostly in silence, Misha drained from his spell and Jensen awkwardly fighting to keep his head above the bag so he could watch where they were going. It was only when they settled down for lunch that their conversation started up again.
“You think you can catch a mouse?” Misha asked the docile dragon in an attempt to cheer him back up. Ever since Jared’s second call, Jensen had been too calm for his liking. He seemed rather hopeless and Misha couldn’t have that.
“Why would I want to catch a mouse?” Jensen was still sitting in the messenger bag, which Misha had placed on the ground.
“Lunch?” Misha suggested.
“Oh, ew!” Jensen predictably fled the bag and shook himself in disgust.
Misha bit back his smirk. “A few bugs then? Maybe you can find some juicy maggots on an animal carcass once you venture further into the woods?”
“Are you trying to make me puke before I’ve even eaten anything?” Jensen glared at Misha, who couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. “Oh, that’s right,” Jensen scoffed at him. “Make fun of the tiny dragon. He can’t defend himself.” Jensen took flight, trying to spew fire. But all that Misha felt was hot air against his cheeks.
When Jensen realized his attempts were futile, he landed again and started gnawing at Misha’s pants angrily. “Hey now!” Misha reached down and dragged him off. “That hurts!” He quickly had to let go and pull back his hand though, because Jensen tried to bite his fingers next.
Jensen settled down on Misha’s legs with a satisfied smirk. “Who’s the tiny helpless dragon now, eh?”
Misha smiled and reached for his saddlebag, taking out some dried meat. “Alright. Guess you earned this, mighty hunter.” He threw Jensen a strip of meat, which Jensen managed to catch mid-air. He stayed on Misha’s legs until he was done chewing, then relocated to a spot in the grass next to him.
“Don’t think I don’t know you’re still mocking me,” Jensen announced, butting his head against Misha’s thigh before Misha fed him another strip of meat.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Misha defended himself, happy that he’d managed to rouse Jensen. “Seriously though. You don’t think you’d enjoy a live meal better?” Jensen nipped Misha’s side hard for that, but the sheer outrage on the dragon’s face was worth it.
For dinner, Misha caught them each a fish. Jensen refused to eat it raw, but Misha had to start a fire for his own anyway. While he was collecting wood, Jensen flew off to explore the area, as he said, coming back with a pear caught in his snout before flying off again for a second one.
“Dessert,” Jensen announced proudly, and Misha patted his head in thanks.
“Shit, you’re really cold though, aren’t you?” Misha realized as he felt Jensen’s scales. He picked him up and cradled him in his arms. Jensen only protested a little, which must have meant he was actually pretty miserable. “You need body warmth,” Misha decided. “Hold still.”
“Don’t,” Jensen tried to protest, but he quickly fell silent when Misha started rubbing his belly and limbs perfunctorily, making sure to keep it as efficient as possible. Not that Misha minded petting the dragon, but he really needed Jensen to accept it right now. It wouldn’t do them any good if he fell ill.
When Jensen started to warm up a bit, Misha sat him back down and started the fire. As soon as it was going, Jensen curled up close to it. After preparing the fish, Misha sat down next to Jensen, stroking his back.
“Thanks,” Jensen looked up at him meekly.
“Don’t mention it,” Misha replied. It was his fault that it had gotten so bad after all. Despite inhabiting the body of one, Jensen didn’t know a thing about dragons. Misha, however, had at least some knowledge. He should have checked on Jensen earlier. “I’m sorry. I should have checked on you sooner. There’s a reason dragons always travel in packs.”
“I didn’t travel alone,” Jensen protested.
“Yeah, but we didn’t have direct body contact either. You can’t absorb warmth from the dead leather of my messenger bag,” Misha reasoned.
Jensen groaned. “This is so embarrassing.” He moved closer to Misha though, nestling up against his leg.
“Why?” Misha asked. “You’re a dragon now. It’s biology.”
“I hate needing help,” Jensen admitted silently.
Misha looked down at him and bit his lip. He could relate. He’d put himself at others’ mercy before and it had never turned out well for him. Now he'd have chosen to suffer alone rather than ask for help. He’d only contacted Jared because of Jensen. Misha would have never asked him for anything if he’d been the one in trouble. It was a lonely, probably unhealthy way of living his life, though. He realized that. “Me, too,” Misha replied and then decided to switch topics. “What’s your job back in Lafayette?”
“Richard’s Town,” Jensen replied.
“Huh?” Misha frowned.
“I’m from Richard’s Town. It’s where I met Danneel,” Jensen explained.
“Right.” Misha remembered that Jensen couldn’t have flown all the way from Lafayette when he met him. “I heard it’s a nice town. So what do you do?”
Jensen smiled. “I’m a blacksmith. But I also know my way around leather and wood. And I’m a decent hunter.”
Misha was impressed. “A regular Jack-of-all-trades, eh? I bet you’re a great friend to have.” And very self-sufficient. It made sense with what Jensen had told him before.
Jensen huffed. “Oh yeah, I’m everybody’s best friend when they need my help.”
“I’m sure you have some actual friends back home though, right?” Misha offered. Jensen didn’t seem like a loner to him. He wasn’t the weird outsider that Misha was.
“Yeah, ok,” Jensen conceded with another smile. “That’s true. I bet they’re starting to worry by now.”
“You want me to dispatch a message?” Misha offered.
“And say what? ‘Don’t worry, I’ve just been turned into a dragon. I’ll be back as soon as I’m cured?’”
“Why not?”
“For starters, they’d think I was pranking them. That I’d run off with someone and would be back soon enough.”
“But Danneel is surely still around?” Misha questioned.
Jensen squirmed a little, avoiding his gaze. “Yeah, that. She was nice enough and in the future, I might have settled down with her somewhere. Maybe. Who knows. It was too early to tell. Either way, my friends didn’t know my wooing had finally succeeded.”
Misha hummed under his breath and reached out to turn their fish. It seemed even harsher to curse Jensen for sleeping with someone who apparently wasn’t The One. Or maybe that was why? Maybe Danneel had felt scorned and asked Jared for help? Hopefully they’d find out soon enough. “So did you always want to become a blacksmith?” Misha asked, to keep the conversation going.
“No, it’s…” Jensen hesitated. “I’ve… I’ve always wanted to become a healer.” He waited, probably to hear Misha’s laugh. Usually, only kids from wealthy families were accepted into training, as it was quite lengthy and costly. It was similar to wizardry.
“That’s a noble profession,” Misha replied. They both fell silent for a beat.
“Or a bard,” Jensen added. “Actually, my voice is quite good. In human form, anyway.”
Misha laughed. “Oh, I bet that goes over really well with the ladies.”
Jensen smirked slyly. “And the men.”
“I see.” Misha smirked right back. “I’m a poet.”
Now it was Jensen’s turn to laugh. “Oh really? Recite me a poem then.”
Misha thought for a moment. “Tiny dragon, scales so red,” he started, ignoring Jensen’s snort. “Wonder what your skin feels like. Tiny dragon, eyes so dark, wonder what their true color is. Tiny dragon, why so cold? Let me share my body warmth. Tiny dragon, why so angry? Belly empty, fish is ready.”
Jensen stared up at him and Misha was pretty sure that he’d turned a darker shade of red again. “That didn’t even rhyme,” he assessed the poem. “And just a fair warning: the next dragon you recite this to might take offense at being repeatedly called tiny and fry your stupid giant ass.” Jensen huffed and turned away from Misha, taking flight and snatching his fish before eating it on the other side of the fire.
However, once they were both done eating, Misha rolled up with his blanket close to the fire. He held it open for Jensen invitingly, and without a word, Jensen crawled under the blanket with him, rolling up into a ball against Misha’s chest.
“I don’t want to freeze to death,” Jensen announced. Then he added, much more quietly, “Thank you.”
“Mhm,” Misha hummed, not about to embarrass Jensen any further. “Goodnight, tiny dragon.”
In response, Jensen bit him lightly in the chest. Misha flinched, but he quickly got over the pinch and instead smiled happily, cuddling the dragon a little closer.
After a quick breakfast of bread and cheese - just cheese for Jensen - they were off again. Jensen was still sickly cold. Or, Misha suspected, he was just more aware of it now that he knew how warm he could be. So whenever Misha had Justine slow down to not over-exert her, Jensen would crawl out of the bag and relocate to wrap himself around Misha’s neck. Every now and then, Misha would reach up and pet Jensen’s head or rub along his tail. He just couldn’t help himself. And Jensen didn’t shake him off.
“This is weird,” Jensen commented at some point. “But I’ve gotta admit it feels good.”
Misha smiled and continued kneading Jensen’s tail. “You’ve obviously never studied dragons.”
“Can’t say I’ve gotten the chance,” Jensen replied, purring a little when Misha pressed down harder. “How come you did?”
Misha’s face lit up at the fond memory now resurfacing. “Do you want the long story or the short version?”
Jensen nuzzled his head against Misha’s collarbone. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
“Right,” Misha laughed softly. “You know how on solstice, Krampus brings some very, very special elf kids a present?”
“Doesn’t he just mostly whip the naughty ones?” Jensen asked.
“Yeah, whatever. Presents.” Misha stopped petting Jensen so he could gesticulate with his hands. “So my grandpa decided to help me and my brother out by building a trap for him. But instead of Krampus, we caught a dragon.”
“You were gonna trap Krampus?” Jensen’s voice had risen slightly. “Are you crazy? That thing is said to have claws. And a poisonous bite.”
“And presents,” Misha emphasized. “Weren’t you listening?” He smirked though. Misha had learned a lot from his grandpa. Like staring into the face of danger and facing it head on to reap the rewards. Even if Krampus was imaginary. As a kid, he’d been willing to go to battle with the creature, just to finally have a present for his brother and him. He’d mostly been thinking of his younger brother though.
“So you caught a dragon?” Jensen asked. “Did you think it was Krampus?”
“Don’t be silly,” Misha waved it off. “Everyone knows Krampus has the head of a wildebeest, the body of a werewolf and a scorpion’s tail. There’s no wings in that mix. That would be much too scary for the kids.”
“Yeah…” Jensen commented dryly. “The wings would be too much.”
Misha laughed. “Anyway. The dragon was hurt and we had to nurse it back to health. That’s when I learned about the body heat.” And as he was saying it, Misha resumed stroking up and down Jensen’s tail. “And then… someone came along who could speak to the dragon and ever since, I really wanted to be able to talk with them as well.”
Jensen was silent for a while. “That’s nice,” he finally said. “That you wanted to learn.”
“Hmm.” Misha looked up at the horizon. He really missed his grandpa.
“So are there many others out there who speak… Wormtongue?” Jensen asked with a twinge of hope in his voice.
“You mean besides the dragons?” Misha deflected the answer.
“Yeah.” Jensen moved around on Misha’s neck, feeling restless. “How many other elves are out there? How many… humans?”
“Uhm,” Misha bit his lip. “I know of just the one other elf. The one who taught me.”
“Jared?” Jensen asked.
“Mm.” Misha didn’t really want to relive this right now, not after all the fond memories of his grandpa had resurfaced. Mostly Jared had used his skills to send dragons on errands for him, finding and fetching rare herbs. Misha simply wanted to chat with them, as they’d always fascinated him. The treatment of dragons had been one of the issues they clashed over.
“So…” Jensen prodded, “What’s the story here?“
Misha sighed. They had to come to this eventually. “After he saved our dragon, he kind of kept in touch. And when I decided to pursue magic and couldn’t find a willing teacher, I went and asked him.” Begging had been more like it. But Misha hadn’t had many options. In part, he was still grateful that Jared had accepted him at all. Even if it hadn’t been for a long time, Misha had accumulated a vast array of knowledge in the limited time given. “I was his apprentice for about a year.” Misha sighed. It was best to just throw it out there. “I thought we could be more, but that failed spectacularly.”
“You were his apprentice and still he slept with you?” Jensen deduced quickly. He sounded outraged. “That’s wrong!” He nuzzled his head against Misha’s chin.
Misha smiled softly. “It was mutual. Don’t worry.”
It seemed like Jensen wanted to say more, but he stayed silent for a while. “How old is he anyway?” He asked eventually.
Misha chuckled. “Much older than he looks.”
And this concluded their talk on the topic. Misha reflected back on his year with Jared, old wounds ripped open again. They’d only slept together in the last two months of his apprenticeship. At that point, Misha had hoped it would fix their already strained relationship, but it just made it worse. It hadn’t all been bad though. The sex at least had been awesome.
For the rest of their journey they stayed on lighter topics, chatting about their families, jobs and past trysts as well as random things like favourite foods. Jensen admitted that he’d always wanted to travel but had never really found the heart to leave his hometown. Misha had to admit that at some point, he’d like to settle down again, have roots somewhere. The more they talked, the more comfortable they felt on their journey and before they knew it, they’d reached their destination. Lafayette.
When they came upon Jared’s mansion, everything suddenly happened all at once. Too fast for Misha to react. Jared must have been expecting them, because the second Misha dismounted his horse, Jared was there, arms raised and shouting a spell. Before Misha had any chance to counter-act, he found himself enveloped in a quickly building ice prison. Just as it was about to enclose him completely, he heard a frantic shout from Jensen and suddenly, Jensen was crashing into him, clinging to his body as the ice closed up all around them.
“Dammit, Jensen!” Misha clutched onto the dragon. He barely had room to turn in a circle. “Why’d you do that? Now we’re both gonna die in here!”
“Couldn’t…” Jensen’s teeth chattered. “Couldn’t let you die alone.” Jensen climbed up Misha’s body and settled around his neck again, sighing when he came in direct contact with Misha’s skin. “Besides, aren’t dragons supposed to be able to spew fire? I’m gonna melt this thing down and save your ass.”
Misha reached up to stroke him. “You’re such an idiot,” he sighed, rubbing faster to keep the dragon warm all the while thinking of a way out of here. All of his herbs and potions were still in his saddlebags and he was just not good enough of a wizard to break out without the help of either.
Jensen moved again, perching on Misha’s shoulder and facing the wall. He took a few deep breaths and then blew them out again, getting increasingly frustrated. Misha realized he was actually trying to breathe fire. And hey, crazier things had happened.
“Ok,” Misha coached, “From what I learned, to spew fire you need to reach deep down and find the gland that produces some kind of acid. And then press it out through your teeth. The friction ignites it.”
Jensen paused his efforts to look at Misha. “You realize how crazy that sounds, right?”
“Says the man cursed into dragon-form and stuck in an ice prison with a half-magic elf.” Misha raised his eyebrows.
Jensen laughed until a full-body shiver made him stop. “Alright. Crazy it is.” He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Misha could see his collar stand up and the next time Jensen breathed out, the tiniest of flames emerged from his snout.
“Yes! You can do it, Jensen!” Misha encouraged him, and on each try the flame Jensen created burned brighter and longer, only increasing in strength until he was breathing such an impressive amount of flame that Misha had to shield his face.
The only problem was, it didn’t cause a damage big enough. Sure, the ice started melting where his flame was directed, but the prison was so thick, it would take them at least a full day to break out. And Misha wasn’t sure Jensen had that long.
After a while, he’d exhausted himself and curled up around Misha’s neck again. Misha rubbed some warmth back into his tail. “Get some rest. We’ll break it next time.” He didn’t mention that he could already see the melted water freeze right back up again. Poor Jensen. He'd risked his life to safe Misha and now he was paying the price. Jensen couldn’t even reply anymore, he just lay there curled around Misha, wheezing and panting heavily. Misha sighed and pressed a small kiss on top of his snout. “Thank you.”
Jensen’s eyes flew up at the contact. “Misha, I feel weird,” he announced right before there was a bright flash of light and Misha was suffocated for a second before the ice prison broke from the combined pressure of two large bodies pressing against it: Misha’s - and Jensen’s.
They landed on the ground in a heap and Misha saw Jared run out of his mansion towards the two of them. He raised his hands protectively to ward off any new magic he might throw at them, but Jared did no such thing.
“Well look at that,” Jared walked around them to inspect the damage. The ice had broken off into large shards. “Told you a kiss would break the curse.” He smirked. “You’re welcome.” He flourished.
“What?” Jensen sat up, covering his junk with his hands.
“True love’s kiss. That’s how the curse was designed. For what it’s worth, I never intended for any of this to happen, but Danneel was mine.” Jared took off his robe and handed it to Jensen.
“What?” Jensen and Misha both repeated in unison.
Jared sighed. “Get dressed, come in, I’ll fill you in.” He turned and walked back to his mansion.
Jensen just sat there, looking at Misha in confusion. “Is he serious? He traps us in an ice prison and now he’s, what? Making us tea?”
“If we’re lucky,” Misha replied. He shrugged. Jared was not a bad guy. Sure, egomaniacal and an asshole but he wasn’t a dark wizard. At least that’s what Misha had thought until today. Then again, the ice prison hadn’t killed him. And so far, there’d been no new curses thrown at them. Jensen was human again, in fact. Misha looked at him just as Jensen was stepping into the robe. He bit his lip. What a fine looking human specimen he was; and definitely not tiny.
Jensen helped Misha get up and they followed Jared into his mansion. Where tea was waiting for them. Misha eyed it cautiously, but Jared rolled his eyes. “Mish, if I wanted you dead, trust me, you’d be dead.”
Misha and Jensen sat down at the table, both refusing to drink the tea until Jared took a sip himself. “Alright. Talk,” Misha prompted.
“Danneel was my betrothed,” Jared started, holding up a hand when Jensen was about to protest. “It was a deal arranged long ago between her parents and mine. I never intended to make good on it until recently, when I’ve been feeling… lonely.” Jared shrugged. “But in any case, I definitely wasn’t gonna let her run off with a filthy human.”
“Hey!” Jensen protested. “At least I wouldn’t have forced Danneel to do anything she didn’t want.”
Jared sighed, turning the mug around in his hand. “Yeah, listen… I’m not a bad guy. I was ready to concede. Maybe even to you. That’s why you got the tailored curse. All you had to do was stay, kiss Danneel, and if it was true love, well, all’s well that ends well. Even I wouldn’t have stood in the way of true love.”
Jensen frowned. When he'd woken up as a dragon, Danneel had freaked out and chased him off. But truth be told, he was happy to flee. He hadn’t wanted to burden her with this, and he wouldn’t feel comfortable being vulnerable around her. He’d never have slept on a pillow in front of her bed, like he did at Misha’s.
“The ice prison though?” Misha threw in with a glare.
Jared smiled brightly. “Worked, didn’t it?” He winked. “I admit that I got curious after our second chat. I didn’t know you’d progressed this far, Mish. It was kinda impressive. So I wanted to see what else you’d try to break my curse. I was a bit disappointed you didn’t come up with anything more creative than seek me out in person, but then, you never were a star pupil.”
“Fuck you,” Misha replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And my name is Misha.”
Jared flashed another smile. “Either way, Mish, you should really be thanking me.”
“Thank you for what? Almost killing me?” Misha was exasperated.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Jared pouted. “True love’s kiss. I could see you bonding on your journey but I know you, Misha. You’re a stubborn moron and in denial of ever needing another person. That’s the true reason you left me, isn’t it? You couldn’t deal with needing me to teach you and take care of you in bed.”
Misha’s mouth opened and closed a few times. The ego on Jared. He just couldn’t. “If that’s what lets you sleep at night.” He shook his head.
“Wait,” Jensen interjected. “I still don’t understand this. You spied on us?”
Jared sighed exasperatedly. “I can see through bird’s eyes. That also covers dragons.” He gave Misha a pointed look, as if that was another fact to devalue dragons.
“You saw through my eyes?” Jensen wrapped his arms around himself. “I feel violated,” he muttered.
Jared winked. “I could see how you looked at him, which parts you focused on. And of course I couldn’t miss the lovelorn look on Mish’s face here. So really, you should be thanking me.”
Misha covered his face with his hands and groaned loudly. He just couldn’t do this. And he shouldn’t have to. Decidedly, he got up, grabbing Jensen’s hand and dragging him up with him. “We’ll be leaving now. Goodbye, and hope to never see you again.”
Jensen seemed to be in a state of shock, but he followed Misha outside, their fingers tangling together naturally.
“Wait! You still haven’t thanked me yet!” Jared yelled after them, but he only followed them as far as his doorstep.
“Consider me not reporting you thanks enough.” Misha bit out without another glance backwards. He led Jensen back to their horse, ignoring all the shattered ice still littering the garden. Justine wouldn’t be able to carry them both but maybe they’d make it to Jensen’s place on foot. And then… Misha bit his lip, really looking at Jensen for the first time since the curse broke. His eyes were a deep shade of green with specks of amber thrown in, and right now they were shining as Jensen held Misha’s gaze.
“True love’s kiss?” Jensen asked. “But I’ve only known you for what, four days now?”
Misha shrugged. Yet he’d been willing to sacrifice his life for Misha’s and if Misha was honest, he’d have gladly died in the ice prison on his own if it meant keeping Jensen safe. “It’s… it’s an old curse breaker. Best not think about it too deeply.” Misha reached out to brush his fingers through Jensen’s hair, but stopped himself. “In any case, it doesn’t have to mean anything. I won’t hold you to it. You can just go back to your old life and pretend this never happened.”
“What if I don’t want to go back to my old life?” Jensen asked, flicking up Misha’s collar so his neck was covered. Misha had taken to rolling it down so Jensen could reach more of his skin for body warmth. Misha smiled at the memory.
“You’re welcome to join me on my travels for a bit,” Misha offered. “I found out life on the road is great for figuring out your place in life.”
“Yeah?” Jensen challenged. “And where would your place in life be right now?”
Misha didn’t want to say ‘by your side’, because Jensen was right. Four days. But he sure felt it. Instead he shrugged, grabbed Jensen by the neck and pulled him in for a kiss. A real one this time, lips to lips, no snouts involved. And it was great. They both smiled when they broke apart, Jensen resting his forehead against Misha’s.
“Just so we’re clear though, in no way, shape or form will we ever thank that bastard wizard or tell anyone about this, right?” Jensen asked.
Misha chuckled. “What wizard? Far as I’m concerned, I’m the only wizard we both know.”
“Good.” Jensen nodded and then his lips found Misha’s again. “You know what though?” Jensen mumbled in between kissing down Misha’s neck. “I think I’m still part dragon. I’m desperately craving body heat.”
Misha laughed against his skin. “I can help with that. As soon as we’re far enough away though.”
Jensen cringed. “And under a roof with no birds.”
“Don’t ruin it,” Misha shuddered, cupping Jensen’s cheek and placing another soft kiss against his lips. They laced hands and wandered off into the village to find a place to stay for the night. “I’ll miss petting my tiny dragon though,” Misha admitted on the way.
Jensen shoved him playfully. “Did I say you can’t pet me anymore?”
In response, Misha curled his hand around Jensen’s nape and caressed his soft hairs.
Instead of purring, like the dragon might have, Jensen just moaned in pleasure. And Misha decided that having human Jensen around was even better than the tiny red dragon. He could get used to this.
Author: Vera
Pairing: Jensen/Misha, fantasy AU
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: Me no own. All the artwork was done by the amazing Jaelijn
Word Count: 8.000
Summary: When Misha stumbles upon a desperate Jensen - who has just woken up as a dragon - he decides to help him. But breaking the curse is not as easy as they are let to believe.
Author’s Note: Written for spn_reversebang and based on jaelijn’s art prompt located on tumblr or LJ. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks to grammar-savvy sleepingspero9 for beta-reading.
=> AO3 <=
It was a beautiful, sunny day. So Misha decided to leave his errands be, and instead he now ambled along a small path leading deeper into the woods so he could sit down under a willow tree and relax with some herbs. But much to his dismay, just as he was about to settle in a mossy, cozy looking spot, he heard an awful noise. It was a continuous loud screech coming from one of the trees, impossible to ignore. As he got closer, he realized that it wasn’t just one screech, it was a whole bunch of dragons making so much noise that they all blended into one.
Naturally, he went to investigate. A medium-sized red dragon was circling the tree, trying to find a perch, but the others wouldn’t let him land.
“But I don’t understand,” the red dragon was complaining helplessly. “What is wrong with you guys? Why won’t you talk to me?”
It was then that Misha realized the dragon was speaking a human tongue. And he seemed to be unable to hear the dragons yelling at him to explain what he was doing. “Calm down, guys,” Misha told them, going over with his hands outstretched. “I got this.”
The dragons quieted down a bit, and Misha pointed at the red dragon. “Hey there. You realize they don’t speak English, right?”
“What?” The dragon stopped circling and hovered in the air in front of Misha.
“Are you fucking with them, or what?” Misha frowned. “I’ve never met a multi-lingual dragon. That’s kinda cool.”
“What?” The dragon repeated, clearly confused.
“You do speak Wormtongue, don’t you?” Misha asked him in the dragons’ native language.
“Oh fuck me,” the dragon was clearly distressed. “The fucker must have fucked with my hearing, too. God dammit. Isn’t this enough?” He yelled while looking up at the skies. Then he landed a few feet away from the tree and from Misha, pulling in his wings and lying down on the ground rolled up in a ball, looking defeated.
“So…” Misha sat down in front of the dragon, having switched back to English. “I’m sensing there’s a story here.” Misha had never seen a dragon pout, but this one kind of was. It was adorable.
The dragon raised his head. “Just fuck off and leave me alone in my misery. I don’t need any more elves screwing with me.”
Misha rubbed his ears self-consciously, momentarily taken aback. “I’m not like other elves,” he offered.
The dragon turned around so he wasn’t facing Misha. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m not usually… I don’t care what you are.”
Misha raised his eyebrow, bemused. “Why, thank you. That means a lot, coming from a dragon.”
“I’m not a dragon,” the dragon grumbled.
“I figured,” Misha replied, smiling when the dragon turned his way again. He wasn’t stupid. Going by the dragon’s unusual facial expressions and language, there was only one solution. “Let me guess… You’re a human who got cursed by an elf?”
The dragon’s tail thumped on the ground as he unrolled and stood up. “Yes? How the hell did you guess that?” He crept closer to Misha, chest thrust out, head held high, obviously trying to be intimidating. “Do you know who cursed me?”
“No, sorry.” Misha held his hands up again. “It just seemed obvious?” And wasn’t this a weird conversation. He looked at the satchel of herbs still attached to his belt. Nope, he was definitely still sober.
“So you do this often? Curse humans?” The dragon’s collar puffed out and his tail was curved up as if ready to strike. “She could have fucking warned me.”
“She?” Misha asked.
“Danneel.” The dragon’s posture relaxed visibly, tail curling up on the ground again and he took on an almost serene look. “The prettiest girl in my village.”
Misha snorted. “You think you got cursed for sleeping with an elf?”
“Well, we finally…” The dragon trailed off. “And then I woke up like this.”
Misha bit off a snort. “Hate to break it to you, but if every human I fucked ended up a dragon, you’d have a lot of friends to chat with.” He winked.
“But human / elf relationships are… strongly discouraged,” the dragon argued.
“Like I care,” Misha rolled his eyes. “And you obviously don’t have a problem with it either.”
The dragon smirked. “I’m Jensen, by the way.”
“Misha,” Misha replied, holding out his hand instinctively. The dragon - Jensen - bumped his head against it, causing Misha to laugh. “This is scientifically interesting though, how you still speak English, but with a dragon’s tongue.”
“What do you mean?” Jensen asked.
“I can hear you, but only because I am attuned to Wormtongue. It’s hard to explain. You are speaking English, which is why the dragons can’t understand you, but you are also speaking with a dragon’s mouth, which is why humans probably have a hard time understanding you.” Misha bit his lip. Man, that really sucked for Jensen.
“That explains a lot.” Jensen slumped back down, letting his head loll onto his paws in defeat.
Misha hesitated a moment, then he reached over and petted Jensen’s head. “There, there, little dragon.”
Jensen bristled and immediately the collar was puffed up again. “Fuck off, you motherfucker. I am taller than you.”
“Right now, you’re not.” Misha couldn’t help a laugh. The dragon was just so damn cute when he got agitated like this. Misha knew better than to tell him though. For all he knew, Jensen was able to spew fire. Also, he generally didn’t want to alienate him. “Listen, I got a friend…” Misha started. Though 'friend' was probably stretching it, in this case. But Jensen didn’t need to know the details. “He’s a wizard. He might be able to help.”
“Really?” Jensen’s tail thumped again, anger apparently forgotten. “So what are we waiting for? Take me now!”
Misha sighed, glancing at his satchel longingly. “Right now?”
Jensen moved closer, head butting Misha’s knee. “I would be endlessly grateful if you could help me, Misha.”
Misha’s eyes narrowed, looking at the tiny dragon now nuzzling his thigh. Interesting, how quickly Jensen had changed tactics. “How grateful?”
“Ew!” Jensen jumped back immediately. “You… you pervert! You…”
Misha laughed again. “Relax, dragon. I’m just messing with you.” Maybe it wasn’t nice, since Jensen clearly needed his help, but… Misha couldn’t help himself. He stood up and held his hand out for the dragon to perch on.
The dragon refused and took flight instead, hovering close to Misha’s head. “You’re an asshole.”
“Been called worse,” Misha grinned.
“Bet you deserved it,” Jensen snarked back, but he followed Misha without further complaint.
Together they travelled back through the forest and towards the main road. But soon Jensen’s wings started flapping erratically and he was having trouble keeping pace with Misha. He was either too fast or too slow.
“I know you don’t need my help, but you can perch on my shoulder, if you want to,” Misha offered.
“I’m fine,” Jensen replied, voice tense.
“You’ve been a dragon for how long?” Misha questioned. “One day?”
“Woke up like this yesterday morning,” Jensen admitted. “I thought flying at least would be fun, but it’s hard.” His voice had gotten quieter.
“You’ll get used to it,” Misha reassured him, patting his shoulder invitingly. But Jensen still refused.
“You think I’ll stay like this?” Jensen asked sadly.
“That’s not what I meant.” Misha shook his head. “I’m sure Jared can help you.” If he’d be willing to.
Jensen puffed out hot air and flew a few feet ahead of Misha, constantly looking back to make sure he was on the right track. Twenty minutes later they reached the inn Misha was staying at. He always booked here when he was in this part of the country. It wasn’t too expensive and nobody asked questions. Still, entering with a dragon in tow probably wasn’t the best idea, so Jensen waited outside and joined Misha in his room once Misha opened the window for him to fly through.
Jensen settled down on Misha’s bed with a heavy breath and watched him putter about with various herbs and liquids. Misha was sure there was a question on his tongue, but Jensen just seemed too wiped to summon the energy and ask. His suspicions were confirmed when a few minutes later, soft snoring could be heard from the dragon’s rolled up form. Misha resisted the urge to go back over and pet him again. He simply couldn’t help it; he had always thought dragons were really cute. But while it was ok for them to talk to him once he’d learned their language, they still never came close enough to allow Misha to touch them. Jensen wasn’t really a dragon, though - or else he probably would have singed Misha’s hide a few times already. Somehow, his sad story made Misha want to comfort him - and thus pet him - even more.
However, just as Misha had finished his set up, and before he could shake Jensen awake - gently, of course - Jensen woke back up on his own. He shook himself before trotting to the edge of the bed, peering at Misha. “So, I take it, you’re magic, too?”
“I know a few spells, if that’s what you mean.” Misha beamed at him. “Otherwise I think we’re all magic, each and every single creature.”
Jensen bristled. “You’re such an elf.”
“Why, thank you.” Misha winked and painted a few charcoal signs on the mirror. “Ready?” He quickly mumbled the summoning spell and when he was done, the signs glowed a bright yellow before disappearing. Instead of a reflection, now Jared could be seen through the glass. His back to the mirror, he was dancing to a beat he hummed himself until suddenly he froze and turned around.
“Who summons m…” He intoned in a loud, intimidating baritone until he spotted Misha. “Misha? What the fuck? Couldn’t you have knocked first?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know how to do that. Is that one of the spells you refused to teach me?” Misha countered.
Jared’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to the mirror. “What do you want?” His voice was icy again.
Jensen took that as his cue to hop onto the counter so he’d be closer to the mirror. “Yeah, uh, hi. I seem to be in a predicament I hope you can help me with.”
Jared paused. “An English speaking dragon. How droll. Have you finally found your match, Misha?” He smirked at the other man, his expression less than kind.
“Shut up,” Misha sighed, passing a hand through his hair. “He’s been cursed. He’s human.”
“Well, of course he’s been cursed,” Jared retorted. “Dragons are far too stupid to learn a new language.”
“Hey!” Misha glared at the wizard. Jared’s arrogance had been one of the reasons why it never could have worked out between them. “Could you, for once, please get off your high horse and help him?”
“Oh wow, you said please. I didn’t think I’d ever get you begging me again. Brings up fond memories, doesn’t it?” Jared gave him a sardonic grin.
Misha was about to reply when his eyes fell onto the dragon. He had to swallow his pride; but obviously just asking nicely wasn’t getting him anywhere. “Yeah, I get it. You can’t help him. Guess you’re not the great wizard you always said you were after all.”
Jared’s eyes narrowed. “I know what you’re doing. But lucky for you, I’m feeling charitable today.” His gaze fixed on the dragon. “Do you know who cursed you?”
“No,” Jensen replied. “I woke up like this.”
“Hm,” Jared cocked his head. “And what were you doing right before you fell asleep?”
“Uhm…” If possible, the dragon’s red deepened. “I slept with an elf.”
“I see,” Jared pointed towards Misha. “It didn’t happen to be this elf, did it?”
“What? No,” Jensen looked up at Misha. “Someone else.”
“If you won’t tell me anything, I’m not able to help you,” Jared raised his arm, about to end the transmission.
“Wait!” Misha stopped him. “What does it matter who he slept with? You already know how to cure that curse, don’t you?”
Jared’s startled look was all the reply Misha needed. “A kiss,” Jared told them. “It can be cured with a kiss.” He moved closer to the mirror. “And that’s as far as my charity goes. Good day.” He waved his hand and the mirror splintered into shards, some of them almost hitting Jensen.
“Ugh, that arrogant prick,” Misha quickly scooped Jensen out of the way. “He could have just blocked the view. Now I’m gonna have to pay for damages.”
“So…” Jensen was lying in Misha’s arm and looking up at him hopefully. “You think he’s right? You think a simple kiss is gonna cure me?”
Misha shrugged and put Jensen down on his bed again before kneeling down in front of it. “Can’t know until we’ve tried.”
”You’re just gonna kiss me? Just like that? No demands or payment required?” Jensen looked down at himself. “I mean, I’m a dragon.”
“I don’t judge,” Misha smiled. He placed his hand on the dragon’s back and pulled him closer before planting a soft kiss on his snout. Then he pulled back and they both waited. Misha touched his lips. “That was colder than expected. And kind of wet.” He tried to make light of the situation.
“Ugh, shut up,” Jensen bristled. “Don’t tell me we need to do this again but with tongue.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Misha frowned. “But seeing as you haven’t turned back by now…” He’d really thought Jared was telling the truth.
“Maybe it works in my sleep. Maybe I just need to go to bed and wake up again.” Jensen tried to be optimistic.
“Yeah, maybe,” Misha admitted, even though he didn’t really believe it. “You wanna stay here? In case you wake up human; you wouldn’t want to wake up stark naked in the middle of the forest.”
The dragon shuddered. “Thank you, Misha. For everything.”
Misha nodded, setting his pillow down onto the ground so Jensen could roll up on it. “Goodnight, Jensen. Hope to meet you properly tomorrow.”
“You just wanna see me naked,” Jensen muttered silently. “Pervert.”
Misha smiled and reached down to pet the dragon’s head, delighted when Jensen let him. Then he got ready for bed himself.
The next morning, Misha was woken up by a loud crash. His initial thought, that Jensen was cured, was soon smashed however, when he heard more things crashing to the floor - accompanied by the frantic flapping of wings. He opened his eyes to find Jensen tearing through his magic supply.
“That’s not gonna help,” Misha mumbled before letting out a loud yawn. “In fact, that’s counter-productive to me contacting Jared again to ask that little weasel to clarify.” Jared knew more than he’d been saying, of that Misha was sure. He’d come up with a cure way too quickly.
Jensen stopped with a bunch of dried leaves between his teeth and landed in the rubble with a huff. “Sorry.”
Misha sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Alright, let me take a shower and then we’ll give Jared another call.”
After Misha had cleaned up, he filled the sink for Jensen to wash up in. The dragon gratefully accepted, even if he seemed to be embarrassed about taking a bath in Misha’s sink.
While Jensen splashed about, Misha cleaned up his stash and then prepared the spell in front of the tiny bathroom mirror. But when he said the spell this time, nothing happened. Misha tried again, pressing on the mirror with his hand to strengthen the magic. However, when he’d completed the spell, he could feel the mirror ripple and repel him.
“That bastard!” Misha frowned. Now he definitely knew that Jared hadn’t been honest with them the day before. “It seems as if Jared’s blocking my calls.”
Jensen looked up from the towel he was nestled in to get dry, probably also because it provided warmth and comfort, Misha guessed. From what he knew, dragons got cold pretty quickly. That was one reason why they stayed in packs, to keep each other warm.
“Don’t worry,” Misha reassured him. “That’s not my only means of communication.” With a sigh, he reached for his shaving knife, then retreated into the main room to pick up one of his bowls. He cut his wrist and let the blood drip into the bowl, putting a cloth onto his skin to still the bleeding once he felt he’d had enough blood.
“Jeeze,” Jensen had come in to watch him. “That doesn’t look so good. You don’t have to kill yourself for me.” He moved closer, butting his head against Misha’s leg.
Misha reached down to pet him. “Don’t worry. This is personal now. Jared might be screwing with you to get back at me.”
“There’s a story here that I would like to know. But not while you’re bleeding all over the carpet.” Jensen extracted himself from Misha’s hand and butted his leg again.
Misha smiled and checked his wrist. The bleeding had almost stopped. Time to make his call. He reached a finger into the bowl and stirred his blood in circles while muttering a new spell.
After a few turns, Jared appeared in the bowl, looking impressed. “Wow, blood magic. Really, Misha? I definitely didn’t teach you that.”
“You were not my only master,” Misha replied cryptically.
“You wound me,” Jared placed his hands over his heart in a big gesture. Then his grin turned nasty again. “I was certainly the only one willing to take on such a poor, low level elf as yourself. Look where that’s gotten us, Mish.”
“I don’t recall you facing any repercussions for it,” Misha huffed. In fact, after things between them didn’t work out, Jared denounced him and Misha had the hardest time finding another teacher. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Bygones. I was wondering why your little cure didn’t help. Any ideas about that?”
“Aw, the kiss didn't help?” Jared wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Guess Jensen’s gonna be stuck like this forever then. Give him my deepest regrets.” And with that, Jared snapped his fingers and he vanished from the bowl.
Misha cursed and almost threw the bowl against the wall, but thought better of it. He looked down at Jensen who held his gaze.
“Wait,” Jensen frowned. “Can he read minds or something?”
”Not that I know of,” Misha frowned. “And definitely not from this distance anyway. Why do you ask?”
“He knew my name,” Jensen stated.
“Because we told him,” Misha said, but then he paused and replayed the conversations they had with Jared. “Oh, that son of a bitch!”
“We didn’t tell him?” Jensen hopped up onto the bed so Misha wouldn’t have to look down at him anymore.
“We didn’t,” Misha confirmed. He cocked his head. “What village was that girl from again?”
“Danneel?”
“Yeah. Danneel.” Misha nodded. “It wasn’t anywhere near Lafayette, was it?”
Jensen’s tail thumped. “That’s her hometown. How’d you know that?”
“That’s where Jared’s from,” Misha informed him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Jared had probably been the one to curse Jensen himself. But why? While Jared scoffed at inter-species relationships, he wouldn’t just curse a random guy because of it. “You’ve never met him though?”
“No. I would’ve remembered.” Jensen laid down on his front feet. “What now?”
“Now we’re travelling to Lafayette and confronting a wizard.” Misha rubbed his temples. Damn, this was bad though. Jared was powerful. Way more powerful than Misha. He’d only taught him an inkling of what he could do, and afterwards Misha had only found a few shady magicians to teach him black magic. He hadn’t wanted to get into it too deep; it wasn’t the kind of magic he’d set out to learn. So he settled on teaching himself and became an errand boy and messenger instead. It suited him just fine. He got to travel the country and had enough free time to pursue his other interests. Now though, he wished he’d gotten deep into the black arts, so he’d be able to teach Jared a lesson.
It was a three days’ ride to Lafayette. After a brief discussion, Jensen conceded that he should travel along in Misha’s messenger bag instead of flying right beside him. Misha’s horse, Justine, was too fast for Jensen to keep up with.
They spent their first morning mostly in silence, Misha drained from his spell and Jensen awkwardly fighting to keep his head above the bag so he could watch where they were going. It was only when they settled down for lunch that their conversation started up again.
“You think you can catch a mouse?” Misha asked the docile dragon in an attempt to cheer him back up. Ever since Jared’s second call, Jensen had been too calm for his liking. He seemed rather hopeless and Misha couldn’t have that.
“Why would I want to catch a mouse?” Jensen was still sitting in the messenger bag, which Misha had placed on the ground.
“Lunch?” Misha suggested.
“Oh, ew!” Jensen predictably fled the bag and shook himself in disgust.
Misha bit back his smirk. “A few bugs then? Maybe you can find some juicy maggots on an animal carcass once you venture further into the woods?”
“Are you trying to make me puke before I’ve even eaten anything?” Jensen glared at Misha, who couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. “Oh, that’s right,” Jensen scoffed at him. “Make fun of the tiny dragon. He can’t defend himself.” Jensen took flight, trying to spew fire. But all that Misha felt was hot air against his cheeks.
When Jensen realized his attempts were futile, he landed again and started gnawing at Misha’s pants angrily. “Hey now!” Misha reached down and dragged him off. “That hurts!” He quickly had to let go and pull back his hand though, because Jensen tried to bite his fingers next.
Jensen settled down on Misha’s legs with a satisfied smirk. “Who’s the tiny helpless dragon now, eh?”
Misha smiled and reached for his saddlebag, taking out some dried meat. “Alright. Guess you earned this, mighty hunter.” He threw Jensen a strip of meat, which Jensen managed to catch mid-air. He stayed on Misha’s legs until he was done chewing, then relocated to a spot in the grass next to him.
“Don’t think I don’t know you’re still mocking me,” Jensen announced, butting his head against Misha’s thigh before Misha fed him another strip of meat.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Misha defended himself, happy that he’d managed to rouse Jensen. “Seriously though. You don’t think you’d enjoy a live meal better?” Jensen nipped Misha’s side hard for that, but the sheer outrage on the dragon’s face was worth it.
For dinner, Misha caught them each a fish. Jensen refused to eat it raw, but Misha had to start a fire for his own anyway. While he was collecting wood, Jensen flew off to explore the area, as he said, coming back with a pear caught in his snout before flying off again for a second one.
“Dessert,” Jensen announced proudly, and Misha patted his head in thanks.
“Shit, you’re really cold though, aren’t you?” Misha realized as he felt Jensen’s scales. He picked him up and cradled him in his arms. Jensen only protested a little, which must have meant he was actually pretty miserable. “You need body warmth,” Misha decided. “Hold still.”
“Don’t,” Jensen tried to protest, but he quickly fell silent when Misha started rubbing his belly and limbs perfunctorily, making sure to keep it as efficient as possible. Not that Misha minded petting the dragon, but he really needed Jensen to accept it right now. It wouldn’t do them any good if he fell ill.
When Jensen started to warm up a bit, Misha sat him back down and started the fire. As soon as it was going, Jensen curled up close to it. After preparing the fish, Misha sat down next to Jensen, stroking his back.
“Thanks,” Jensen looked up at him meekly.
“Don’t mention it,” Misha replied. It was his fault that it had gotten so bad after all. Despite inhabiting the body of one, Jensen didn’t know a thing about dragons. Misha, however, had at least some knowledge. He should have checked on Jensen earlier. “I’m sorry. I should have checked on you sooner. There’s a reason dragons always travel in packs.”
“I didn’t travel alone,” Jensen protested.
“Yeah, but we didn’t have direct body contact either. You can’t absorb warmth from the dead leather of my messenger bag,” Misha reasoned.
Jensen groaned. “This is so embarrassing.” He moved closer to Misha though, nestling up against his leg.
“Why?” Misha asked. “You’re a dragon now. It’s biology.”
“I hate needing help,” Jensen admitted silently.
Misha looked down at him and bit his lip. He could relate. He’d put himself at others’ mercy before and it had never turned out well for him. Now he'd have chosen to suffer alone rather than ask for help. He’d only contacted Jared because of Jensen. Misha would have never asked him for anything if he’d been the one in trouble. It was a lonely, probably unhealthy way of living his life, though. He realized that. “Me, too,” Misha replied and then decided to switch topics. “What’s your job back in Lafayette?”
“Richard’s Town,” Jensen replied.
“Huh?” Misha frowned.
“I’m from Richard’s Town. It’s where I met Danneel,” Jensen explained.
“Right.” Misha remembered that Jensen couldn’t have flown all the way from Lafayette when he met him. “I heard it’s a nice town. So what do you do?”
Jensen smiled. “I’m a blacksmith. But I also know my way around leather and wood. And I’m a decent hunter.”
Misha was impressed. “A regular Jack-of-all-trades, eh? I bet you’re a great friend to have.” And very self-sufficient. It made sense with what Jensen had told him before.
Jensen huffed. “Oh yeah, I’m everybody’s best friend when they need my help.”
“I’m sure you have some actual friends back home though, right?” Misha offered. Jensen didn’t seem like a loner to him. He wasn’t the weird outsider that Misha was.
“Yeah, ok,” Jensen conceded with another smile. “That’s true. I bet they’re starting to worry by now.”
“You want me to dispatch a message?” Misha offered.
“And say what? ‘Don’t worry, I’ve just been turned into a dragon. I’ll be back as soon as I’m cured?’”
“Why not?”
“For starters, they’d think I was pranking them. That I’d run off with someone and would be back soon enough.”
“But Danneel is surely still around?” Misha questioned.
Jensen squirmed a little, avoiding his gaze. “Yeah, that. She was nice enough and in the future, I might have settled down with her somewhere. Maybe. Who knows. It was too early to tell. Either way, my friends didn’t know my wooing had finally succeeded.”
Misha hummed under his breath and reached out to turn their fish. It seemed even harsher to curse Jensen for sleeping with someone who apparently wasn’t The One. Or maybe that was why? Maybe Danneel had felt scorned and asked Jared for help? Hopefully they’d find out soon enough. “So did you always want to become a blacksmith?” Misha asked, to keep the conversation going.
“No, it’s…” Jensen hesitated. “I’ve… I’ve always wanted to become a healer.” He waited, probably to hear Misha’s laugh. Usually, only kids from wealthy families were accepted into training, as it was quite lengthy and costly. It was similar to wizardry.
“That’s a noble profession,” Misha replied. They both fell silent for a beat.
“Or a bard,” Jensen added. “Actually, my voice is quite good. In human form, anyway.”
Misha laughed. “Oh, I bet that goes over really well with the ladies.”
Jensen smirked slyly. “And the men.”
“I see.” Misha smirked right back. “I’m a poet.”
Now it was Jensen’s turn to laugh. “Oh really? Recite me a poem then.”
Misha thought for a moment. “Tiny dragon, scales so red,” he started, ignoring Jensen’s snort. “Wonder what your skin feels like. Tiny dragon, eyes so dark, wonder what their true color is. Tiny dragon, why so cold? Let me share my body warmth. Tiny dragon, why so angry? Belly empty, fish is ready.”
Jensen stared up at him and Misha was pretty sure that he’d turned a darker shade of red again. “That didn’t even rhyme,” he assessed the poem. “And just a fair warning: the next dragon you recite this to might take offense at being repeatedly called tiny and fry your stupid giant ass.” Jensen huffed and turned away from Misha, taking flight and snatching his fish before eating it on the other side of the fire.
However, once they were both done eating, Misha rolled up with his blanket close to the fire. He held it open for Jensen invitingly, and without a word, Jensen crawled under the blanket with him, rolling up into a ball against Misha’s chest.
“I don’t want to freeze to death,” Jensen announced. Then he added, much more quietly, “Thank you.”
“Mhm,” Misha hummed, not about to embarrass Jensen any further. “Goodnight, tiny dragon.”
In response, Jensen bit him lightly in the chest. Misha flinched, but he quickly got over the pinch and instead smiled happily, cuddling the dragon a little closer.
After a quick breakfast of bread and cheese - just cheese for Jensen - they were off again. Jensen was still sickly cold. Or, Misha suspected, he was just more aware of it now that he knew how warm he could be. So whenever Misha had Justine slow down to not over-exert her, Jensen would crawl out of the bag and relocate to wrap himself around Misha’s neck. Every now and then, Misha would reach up and pet Jensen’s head or rub along his tail. He just couldn’t help himself. And Jensen didn’t shake him off.
“This is weird,” Jensen commented at some point. “But I’ve gotta admit it feels good.”
Misha smiled and continued kneading Jensen’s tail. “You’ve obviously never studied dragons.”
“Can’t say I’ve gotten the chance,” Jensen replied, purring a little when Misha pressed down harder. “How come you did?”
Misha’s face lit up at the fond memory now resurfacing. “Do you want the long story or the short version?”
Jensen nuzzled his head against Misha’s collarbone. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
“Right,” Misha laughed softly. “You know how on solstice, Krampus brings some very, very special elf kids a present?”
“Doesn’t he just mostly whip the naughty ones?” Jensen asked.
“Yeah, whatever. Presents.” Misha stopped petting Jensen so he could gesticulate with his hands. “So my grandpa decided to help me and my brother out by building a trap for him. But instead of Krampus, we caught a dragon.”
“You were gonna trap Krampus?” Jensen’s voice had risen slightly. “Are you crazy? That thing is said to have claws. And a poisonous bite.”
“And presents,” Misha emphasized. “Weren’t you listening?” He smirked though. Misha had learned a lot from his grandpa. Like staring into the face of danger and facing it head on to reap the rewards. Even if Krampus was imaginary. As a kid, he’d been willing to go to battle with the creature, just to finally have a present for his brother and him. He’d mostly been thinking of his younger brother though.
“So you caught a dragon?” Jensen asked. “Did you think it was Krampus?”
“Don’t be silly,” Misha waved it off. “Everyone knows Krampus has the head of a wildebeest, the body of a werewolf and a scorpion’s tail. There’s no wings in that mix. That would be much too scary for the kids.”
“Yeah…” Jensen commented dryly. “The wings would be too much.”
Misha laughed. “Anyway. The dragon was hurt and we had to nurse it back to health. That’s when I learned about the body heat.” And as he was saying it, Misha resumed stroking up and down Jensen’s tail. “And then… someone came along who could speak to the dragon and ever since, I really wanted to be able to talk with them as well.”
Jensen was silent for a while. “That’s nice,” he finally said. “That you wanted to learn.”
“Hmm.” Misha looked up at the horizon. He really missed his grandpa.
“So are there many others out there who speak… Wormtongue?” Jensen asked with a twinge of hope in his voice.
“You mean besides the dragons?” Misha deflected the answer.
“Yeah.” Jensen moved around on Misha’s neck, feeling restless. “How many other elves are out there? How many… humans?”
“Uhm,” Misha bit his lip. “I know of just the one other elf. The one who taught me.”
“Jared?” Jensen asked.
“Mm.” Misha didn’t really want to relive this right now, not after all the fond memories of his grandpa had resurfaced. Mostly Jared had used his skills to send dragons on errands for him, finding and fetching rare herbs. Misha simply wanted to chat with them, as they’d always fascinated him. The treatment of dragons had been one of the issues they clashed over.
“So…” Jensen prodded, “What’s the story here?“
Misha sighed. They had to come to this eventually. “After he saved our dragon, he kind of kept in touch. And when I decided to pursue magic and couldn’t find a willing teacher, I went and asked him.” Begging had been more like it. But Misha hadn’t had many options. In part, he was still grateful that Jared had accepted him at all. Even if it hadn’t been for a long time, Misha had accumulated a vast array of knowledge in the limited time given. “I was his apprentice for about a year.” Misha sighed. It was best to just throw it out there. “I thought we could be more, but that failed spectacularly.”
“You were his apprentice and still he slept with you?” Jensen deduced quickly. He sounded outraged. “That’s wrong!” He nuzzled his head against Misha’s chin.
Misha smiled softly. “It was mutual. Don’t worry.”
It seemed like Jensen wanted to say more, but he stayed silent for a while. “How old is he anyway?” He asked eventually.
Misha chuckled. “Much older than he looks.”
And this concluded their talk on the topic. Misha reflected back on his year with Jared, old wounds ripped open again. They’d only slept together in the last two months of his apprenticeship. At that point, Misha had hoped it would fix their already strained relationship, but it just made it worse. It hadn’t all been bad though. The sex at least had been awesome.
For the rest of their journey they stayed on lighter topics, chatting about their families, jobs and past trysts as well as random things like favourite foods. Jensen admitted that he’d always wanted to travel but had never really found the heart to leave his hometown. Misha had to admit that at some point, he’d like to settle down again, have roots somewhere. The more they talked, the more comfortable they felt on their journey and before they knew it, they’d reached their destination. Lafayette.
When they came upon Jared’s mansion, everything suddenly happened all at once. Too fast for Misha to react. Jared must have been expecting them, because the second Misha dismounted his horse, Jared was there, arms raised and shouting a spell. Before Misha had any chance to counter-act, he found himself enveloped in a quickly building ice prison. Just as it was about to enclose him completely, he heard a frantic shout from Jensen and suddenly, Jensen was crashing into him, clinging to his body as the ice closed up all around them.
“Dammit, Jensen!” Misha clutched onto the dragon. He barely had room to turn in a circle. “Why’d you do that? Now we’re both gonna die in here!”
“Couldn’t…” Jensen’s teeth chattered. “Couldn’t let you die alone.” Jensen climbed up Misha’s body and settled around his neck again, sighing when he came in direct contact with Misha’s skin. “Besides, aren’t dragons supposed to be able to spew fire? I’m gonna melt this thing down and save your ass.”
Misha reached up to stroke him. “You’re such an idiot,” he sighed, rubbing faster to keep the dragon warm all the while thinking of a way out of here. All of his herbs and potions were still in his saddlebags and he was just not good enough of a wizard to break out without the help of either.
Jensen moved again, perching on Misha’s shoulder and facing the wall. He took a few deep breaths and then blew them out again, getting increasingly frustrated. Misha realized he was actually trying to breathe fire. And hey, crazier things had happened.
“Ok,” Misha coached, “From what I learned, to spew fire you need to reach deep down and find the gland that produces some kind of acid. And then press it out through your teeth. The friction ignites it.”
Jensen paused his efforts to look at Misha. “You realize how crazy that sounds, right?”
“Says the man cursed into dragon-form and stuck in an ice prison with a half-magic elf.” Misha raised his eyebrows.
Jensen laughed until a full-body shiver made him stop. “Alright. Crazy it is.” He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Misha could see his collar stand up and the next time Jensen breathed out, the tiniest of flames emerged from his snout.
“Yes! You can do it, Jensen!” Misha encouraged him, and on each try the flame Jensen created burned brighter and longer, only increasing in strength until he was breathing such an impressive amount of flame that Misha had to shield his face.
The only problem was, it didn’t cause a damage big enough. Sure, the ice started melting where his flame was directed, but the prison was so thick, it would take them at least a full day to break out. And Misha wasn’t sure Jensen had that long.
After a while, he’d exhausted himself and curled up around Misha’s neck again. Misha rubbed some warmth back into his tail. “Get some rest. We’ll break it next time.” He didn’t mention that he could already see the melted water freeze right back up again. Poor Jensen. He'd risked his life to safe Misha and now he was paying the price. Jensen couldn’t even reply anymore, he just lay there curled around Misha, wheezing and panting heavily. Misha sighed and pressed a small kiss on top of his snout. “Thank you.”
Jensen’s eyes flew up at the contact. “Misha, I feel weird,” he announced right before there was a bright flash of light and Misha was suffocated for a second before the ice prison broke from the combined pressure of two large bodies pressing against it: Misha’s - and Jensen’s.
They landed on the ground in a heap and Misha saw Jared run out of his mansion towards the two of them. He raised his hands protectively to ward off any new magic he might throw at them, but Jared did no such thing.
“Well look at that,” Jared walked around them to inspect the damage. The ice had broken off into large shards. “Told you a kiss would break the curse.” He smirked. “You’re welcome.” He flourished.
“What?” Jensen sat up, covering his junk with his hands.
“True love’s kiss. That’s how the curse was designed. For what it’s worth, I never intended for any of this to happen, but Danneel was mine.” Jared took off his robe and handed it to Jensen.
“What?” Jensen and Misha both repeated in unison.
Jared sighed. “Get dressed, come in, I’ll fill you in.” He turned and walked back to his mansion.
Jensen just sat there, looking at Misha in confusion. “Is he serious? He traps us in an ice prison and now he’s, what? Making us tea?”
“If we’re lucky,” Misha replied. He shrugged. Jared was not a bad guy. Sure, egomaniacal and an asshole but he wasn’t a dark wizard. At least that’s what Misha had thought until today. Then again, the ice prison hadn’t killed him. And so far, there’d been no new curses thrown at them. Jensen was human again, in fact. Misha looked at him just as Jensen was stepping into the robe. He bit his lip. What a fine looking human specimen he was; and definitely not tiny.
Jensen helped Misha get up and they followed Jared into his mansion. Where tea was waiting for them. Misha eyed it cautiously, but Jared rolled his eyes. “Mish, if I wanted you dead, trust me, you’d be dead.”
Misha and Jensen sat down at the table, both refusing to drink the tea until Jared took a sip himself. “Alright. Talk,” Misha prompted.
“Danneel was my betrothed,” Jared started, holding up a hand when Jensen was about to protest. “It was a deal arranged long ago between her parents and mine. I never intended to make good on it until recently, when I’ve been feeling… lonely.” Jared shrugged. “But in any case, I definitely wasn’t gonna let her run off with a filthy human.”
“Hey!” Jensen protested. “At least I wouldn’t have forced Danneel to do anything she didn’t want.”
Jared sighed, turning the mug around in his hand. “Yeah, listen… I’m not a bad guy. I was ready to concede. Maybe even to you. That’s why you got the tailored curse. All you had to do was stay, kiss Danneel, and if it was true love, well, all’s well that ends well. Even I wouldn’t have stood in the way of true love.”
Jensen frowned. When he'd woken up as a dragon, Danneel had freaked out and chased him off. But truth be told, he was happy to flee. He hadn’t wanted to burden her with this, and he wouldn’t feel comfortable being vulnerable around her. He’d never have slept on a pillow in front of her bed, like he did at Misha’s.
“The ice prison though?” Misha threw in with a glare.
Jared smiled brightly. “Worked, didn’t it?” He winked. “I admit that I got curious after our second chat. I didn’t know you’d progressed this far, Mish. It was kinda impressive. So I wanted to see what else you’d try to break my curse. I was a bit disappointed you didn’t come up with anything more creative than seek me out in person, but then, you never were a star pupil.”
“Fuck you,” Misha replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “And my name is Misha.”
Jared flashed another smile. “Either way, Mish, you should really be thanking me.”
“Thank you for what? Almost killing me?” Misha was exasperated.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Jared pouted. “True love’s kiss. I could see you bonding on your journey but I know you, Misha. You’re a stubborn moron and in denial of ever needing another person. That’s the true reason you left me, isn’t it? You couldn’t deal with needing me to teach you and take care of you in bed.”
Misha’s mouth opened and closed a few times. The ego on Jared. He just couldn’t. “If that’s what lets you sleep at night.” He shook his head.
“Wait,” Jensen interjected. “I still don’t understand this. You spied on us?”
Jared sighed exasperatedly. “I can see through bird’s eyes. That also covers dragons.” He gave Misha a pointed look, as if that was another fact to devalue dragons.
“You saw through my eyes?” Jensen wrapped his arms around himself. “I feel violated,” he muttered.
Jared winked. “I could see how you looked at him, which parts you focused on. And of course I couldn’t miss the lovelorn look on Mish’s face here. So really, you should be thanking me.”
Misha covered his face with his hands and groaned loudly. He just couldn’t do this. And he shouldn’t have to. Decidedly, he got up, grabbing Jensen’s hand and dragging him up with him. “We’ll be leaving now. Goodbye, and hope to never see you again.”
Jensen seemed to be in a state of shock, but he followed Misha outside, their fingers tangling together naturally.
“Wait! You still haven’t thanked me yet!” Jared yelled after them, but he only followed them as far as his doorstep.
“Consider me not reporting you thanks enough.” Misha bit out without another glance backwards. He led Jensen back to their horse, ignoring all the shattered ice still littering the garden. Justine wouldn’t be able to carry them both but maybe they’d make it to Jensen’s place on foot. And then… Misha bit his lip, really looking at Jensen for the first time since the curse broke. His eyes were a deep shade of green with specks of amber thrown in, and right now they were shining as Jensen held Misha’s gaze.
“True love’s kiss?” Jensen asked. “But I’ve only known you for what, four days now?”
Misha shrugged. Yet he’d been willing to sacrifice his life for Misha’s and if Misha was honest, he’d have gladly died in the ice prison on his own if it meant keeping Jensen safe. “It’s… it’s an old curse breaker. Best not think about it too deeply.” Misha reached out to brush his fingers through Jensen’s hair, but stopped himself. “In any case, it doesn’t have to mean anything. I won’t hold you to it. You can just go back to your old life and pretend this never happened.”
“What if I don’t want to go back to my old life?” Jensen asked, flicking up Misha’s collar so his neck was covered. Misha had taken to rolling it down so Jensen could reach more of his skin for body warmth. Misha smiled at the memory.
“You’re welcome to join me on my travels for a bit,” Misha offered. “I found out life on the road is great for figuring out your place in life.”
“Yeah?” Jensen challenged. “And where would your place in life be right now?”
Misha didn’t want to say ‘by your side’, because Jensen was right. Four days. But he sure felt it. Instead he shrugged, grabbed Jensen by the neck and pulled him in for a kiss. A real one this time, lips to lips, no snouts involved. And it was great. They both smiled when they broke apart, Jensen resting his forehead against Misha’s.
“Just so we’re clear though, in no way, shape or form will we ever thank that bastard wizard or tell anyone about this, right?” Jensen asked.
Misha chuckled. “What wizard? Far as I’m concerned, I’m the only wizard we both know.”
“Good.” Jensen nodded and then his lips found Misha’s again. “You know what though?” Jensen mumbled in between kissing down Misha’s neck. “I think I’m still part dragon. I’m desperately craving body heat.”
Misha laughed against his skin. “I can help with that. As soon as we’re far enough away though.”
Jensen cringed. “And under a roof with no birds.”
“Don’t ruin it,” Misha shuddered, cupping Jensen’s cheek and placing another soft kiss against his lips. They laced hands and wandered off into the village to find a place to stay for the night. “I’ll miss petting my tiny dragon though,” Misha admitted on the way.
Jensen shoved him playfully. “Did I say you can’t pet me anymore?”
In response, Misha curled his hand around Jensen’s nape and caressed his soft hairs.
Instead of purring, like the dragon might have, Jensen just moaned in pleasure. And Misha decided that having human Jensen around was even better than the tiny red dragon. He could get used to this.