Dragon Fruit #6, #29, #24, #2, #5; Gummy Bunnies
Author: Lumelle
Title: Little Book of Happiness
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #6: what would they do with their freedom?
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Demon tongue")
Word Count: 858
Rating: G
Summary: Aarni is looking for a book. Though his request is somewhat unusual, Raymond finds him one.
Raymond paused in the doorway, quiet as he observed an unusual phenomenon. His library was habitually empty as he entered it; even when some of his scarce friends might drop by, they rarely made any ventures into what Conan had once called his inner sanctum. This time, however, he found an intruder among his numerous books.
Though it had been a few days, Aarni still looked as pale and exhausted as when he had first entered the house. Not that Raymond could blame him. The boy hadn't been sleeping well, and his appetite was quite pitiful as well despite Raymond's best attempts to encourage him to eat. It seemed he had taken the events of the past weekend quite harshly. Fancy that.
"Looking for something in particular?"
Aarni started, then spun around to look at him. There was an almost defiant look in his eyes. "The door was open."
"Oh, I'm well aware. I make a point of leaving it open for ease of access." He walked further in, placing the book he had been about to return on the desk in the middle of the room. "If I did not want you to enter, I would have done my best to bolt the door. And trust me, my best is quite remarkable." He knew better than to expect a teenager to stay out of places that weren't explicitly allowed for him. Or even those that were explicitly prohibited, for that matter.
"You've got a lot of books." A flat observation as the boy looked around, shuffling his feet.
"It's quite the collection, yes, even if I say so myself. My pride and joy, as it happens." He raised his eyebrows. "Much though I hate to repeat myself, is there something in particular you were looking for? I'm afraid I'm quite short on the kinds of literature aimed at people of your age in particular, but I'm sure there is something in here that might catch your interest."
Aarni opened his mouth as though to say something, then shut it with an almost audible snap. Well, wasn't that interesting.
"Yes? What is it?" Raymond's lips twitched. "If I don't have something you want, I can get it. Goodness knows I can never have enough excuses to buy books."
"You have anything in dragon-writ?"
"You read it?" Raymond blinked. Though some dragons did take great pains to preserve their old language, it was not often that he came across young people who had taken the trouble to learn the associated alphabet. The level of recognition alone escaped many; to know them well enough to allow for any ease of reading was quite remarkable.
"Some." The boy shuffled his feet again, looking uneasy. It wasn't the awkwardness one might have expected from a teenager, though. Raymond was reminded of a predator about to pounce, and he had seen many predators in his day. "My father thought it was good for me to learn."
"I see." Raymond gave him a slow nod. "As it happens, I do have a couple of books in the old tongue, though I'm not sure if they would be particularly engaging to you." He wandered toward the appropriate shelf, giving it a once-over. "Hm. I doubt you would have much use for this one." He pushed aside a book on dragon superstitions, knowing without even looking that the majority of them had to do with bad omens and misfortune involving shadow dragons. "A book on potions, probably not your area of interest. How about this?" He took out a copy of 'Failed Slayers: Breaking the Spear', holding it up for the boy to see.
"I don't think I've read that one." Though Raymond was sure Aarni did his best to sound uninterested, there was no concealing that little glint in his eye. "Can I borrow it?"
"May I," Raymond corrected without thinking. "And yes, you may. Any and all books in this room are yours to read, as long as you return them in the same condition."
"Understood." Aarni snatched the book from his hand, unable to resist a small smirk. "I'm not four, you know."
"Never thought you were. Some people can be very thoughtless about books, that's all." Raymond shook his head, taking out another book from the shelf and placing it on the desk. "The book's fairly old, so it's possible you may not have encountered all the words before. The dictionary uses the old alphabetising scheme but should be fairly easy to use otherwise."
"Yeah, yeah." Aarni's tone made Raymond quite doubt he had heard a word, the book already open in his hands. "I'll do that."
"Dinner will be in an hour," Raymond added, heading to the doorway. "I will call for you then."
He got no response this time. Raymond headed for the kitchen, shaking his head in faint amusement. The smile that crept on his face was mostly relief, though.
This was the first time since that night that he had seen the boy's eyes hold the look of a living person.
He could only hope he could keep that spark there.
Author: Lumelle
Title: The Truth of Cassandra
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #29: one last desperate hope
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Tragic shadow").
Word Count: 2,146
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Raymond meets an old enemy. However, to her misfortune, she makes the mistake of threatening Raymond's family.
"And just what do you think you are doing, you bastard?"
As he spoke, the woman spun around. Her lips curled a bit. "Ah, Raymond, my sweet," she cooed. A shiver ran down his spine. "I have been waiting for you."
"Cut the crap, thank you." Not the most polite way of putting it, but he was not feeling very polite. "Where is the boy?"
"What boy? I do not recall any boy." Was she actually batting her eyes at him? She couldn't be serious.
"The boy. My boy. Dragon flightling. Where is he?" His tone grew colder with each word as he walked toward her, his steps cold. It wouldn't do to alarm her too soon. If he got her into a battle mode, Aarni might be hurt even worse.
"Oh, please. As though you actually care about him one bit." Her smirk took on a mocking shade as she nodded to a corner behind her. "Worry not, he's still in one piece. Breathing, too, last time I bothered to check."
Aarni lay crumbled up in the shadows. He could not smell death, not yet at least, nor much blood. Good. That was the most of a guarantee he could have right now. Another step forward, still careful. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why? Why am I doing what?" She chuckled, a sound like sweet little bells tingling in a summer breeze. Silver bells, he assumed, with sunlight glinting off the finely polished surface. "But I am not doing anything, my love. Here I stand, prepared to welcome you to my abode, and you barge in asking all kind of rude questions and glaring at me as though I had done something wrong."
"I am not here for games, Cassandra." He shook his head, feeling very weary. "I'm only here to get my boy. And I want to know why you would hurt him. Do you not have enough ways to hurt me without attacking what's little more than a hatchling, still?"
"Oh, please, Raymond. As though I don't have anything better than to hunt down and beat up little kids. It's not like he was much of a challenge, even if he did try to put up a fight." She shook her head, long tresses of blood red swishing around her shoulders. "You truly underestimate me, don't you?"
"Then what the hell are you playing at?" Coming to a halt in the middle of the room -- though hall would have been more accurate a term, or perhaps a chamber -- he glared at her, hoping to get at least some form of an answer. He could feel the flashes of red and black entering his eyes, but did not bother to hold them back. It wasn't like there was anyone around to see him to be startled by them. Not anyone he cared about, in any case.
He would not look at Aarni anymore. He would not, not as long as he could hold her gaze. It wouldn't do to show any weakness, or she would not hesitate to strike.
"Playing? Games? Truly, you have the strangest ideas sometimes." Reaching into the shadows, she drew out a seat for herself and sat down, elegant as ever as she all but draped herself over an arm rest of nothing but darkness and silent screams. "I only want one thing, Raymond darling." Her lips twitched a bit. "I want to break you."
"Break me?" he echoed. "You're welcome to try, princess. Better and badder ones than you have tried over the years. None have managed yet." As though he would bow to her, no matter what.
"Oh, worry not. I do not plan to use pain or other such pitiful causes. It's not like you would succumb to a simple trick such as that." She snorted, then directed a serious gaze at him, the smirk gone for a second. "I'm feeling generous tonight, Raymond. I'm actually going to give you a choice."
"A choice?" he echoed. "Choice between what? Kissing your right hand or your left?"
"Please. If you were that easy to beat, what pleasure would there be in doing so?" And now the lips were curling into a smirk again. "I shall give you a gift, Raymond. A gift of one life, a life other than yours, to take away from here tonight. Any you do not choose will be declared forfeit to me and will become my playthings until I grow bored."
"As though there is much to choose." He snorted, taking a step toward where Aarni lay. "I shall just take my boy and be on my way."
"Will you, now?" Her lips twitched in a manner he did not like. "Do consider for a moment, Raymond my sweet. Would it truly be a choice if I had but one life captive?"
"I do not care." He looked at her with all the calmness he could muster, forcing his anger back. "No matter who else you have captured, I will take the boy. He is under my care and my responsibility. I will not allow him to come to harm, no matter what the cost to myself."
"And you're not even going to see what else you are playing for?" She pouted her lips. "You truly are no fun."
"Sorry for knowing where my loyalties lie." He had taken the boy to be part of his family. He would protect the child until the end.
"Oh, but I don't think you truly know that. You see, I know how hard-headed you can be. I would never make you choose between family and a stranger." She stood up again, the seat melting back into the shadows. "I found it, Raymond. I found what you have been searching."
Despite his best attempts not to give her the satisfaction of reacting to her words, Raymond froze at that. "You did not."
"Oh, yes." Her voice bordered on purring as she was the one to walk toward him, this time. "The one you have been searching, Raymond. Everyone else was sure the poor soul was lost to you forever, but you kept searching. You kept looking, sure that you would find your beloved. And you know what? You were right. It wasn't lost after all. The only problem is... I found it first."
"You lie." His voice sounded hoarse even in his own ears. "You must."
"What fun would there be in lying to you about such things if I did not have the proof to back up my claims?" She shook her head. "I know everything about you, Raymond. Of course I would look for it as well." With a wave of her hand, the curtain at the back wall slid aside. Behind it, though, was not the same dark wall that surrounded them elsewhere. Instead, Raymond saw a small alcove, sheltering something not much unlike crystal. A diamond cocoon, he realised. A cocoon with someone inside.
A tall, slender figure, the skin as pale as the long, flowing hair was dark. Though the eyes were closed, he could almost feel their gaze. Could almost see the smirk he had missed for years, now.
"Adrian," he breathed, unable to hold back. "Adrian..."
"Yes. I found your little plaything." She walked closer, almost past him, setting a hand on his shoulder as she came to a halt by his side. "You have a choice, Raymond darling," she whispered, the sultry tones of her voice echoing in the chamber in a manner they should not have. "A choice of one life you may walk away with. So choose wisely, my beloved, because the one you leave behind will become mine to do with as I please."
He was quiet for a while. His eyes were locked on Adrian, trapped within the diamond. The cocoon was expertly spun, he realised as much without even going near. Disenchanting it would be tricky no matter who tried it. It might even be almost impossible for anyone but Cassandra, the caster. And as long as the cocoon remained, Adrian would be perfectly at her mercy. His love. The one he had been searching for so long.
His eyes slid to the corner. Aarni lay there, crumbled up on the floor. His hair appeared to almost glow in the shadows, white as it was in the almost-darkness. For all his rash bravado earlier, he looked incredibly fragile just now, lying on the cold stone floor. So fragile and helpless. In the end, he was nothing but a child, a child who had entered a word far too big and dangerous for him yet. A child who did not have a soul in the entire world. No one besides him.
And she was telling him to choose.
"And if I do not want to choose?" he whispered.
"Ah, but you must." She snickered. "I will not allow you to go with them both, you realise. I am giving you a gift, remember, but the gift is only for one of their lives. The other is mine." Her voice dropped, the echo gone as instead she spoke to him and him alone. "And as I play, I will let the poor thing know you chose another. I will say it over and over until it's the last thing remaining in their broken mind... the night you abandoned your most precious thing."
He gritted his teeth, his fangs tickling as they pushed their way out without their consent. "You are insane, Cassandra," he breathed. "You have lost your mind."
"Perhaps." Such an easy admission from her. "Perhaps it is you who is insane, though, thinking you could resist. Say, Raymond, why not just come to me? I might even feel merciful and let them both go. Without you, of course. I do not care which toy I am left with, but I must have one."
"No. You truly are insane." Raymond shook his head, bringing up a hand to push hers away. "I will not choose. I will never choose."
"So you will rather forfeit them both?"
"No." He stepped away, and spun around as soon as he did, glaring at her back. "I will fight you for them both."
"Fight me? My sweet, how naive you must be to even entertain such notions." She laughed as she turned to face him. Silver bells in the sunshine again. "I am not like you, surely you realise. As I fight, there may be casualties. Collateral damage, if you will." Her smirk widened. "But that's your plan anyway, isn't it? Have them both killed here and now. Spare them both the pain. I have to say, it's a nice and devious plan from you."
"Do not place me on your level, you devil." His words were harsh, his voice dropping to a deep coldness. The floor under his feet was starting to frost over as he clenched his fists, glaring at her with eyes that were now black and red all over.
This was all right. As long as he was between her and them, it was all right.
"My, my. Isn't this interesting." She examined her nails for a second, then brandished her claws. "It has been a while since I had any actual fun. Do come at me, my love. I yearn to dance with you again. I yearn to hear your sweet words of hatred." Insane. She had to be insane.
"I only have one thing to say to you." He reached out his arms, drawing from the shadows the weapon he needed to deal with the likes of her. "Cassandra... Go to hell."
The scythe of shadows was cold in his hands as he rushed forward, as cold as the depths he had drawn it from. For a moment, he saw a startled look on her face before it broke into an insane laughter.
"At last!" she cried out, a mad gleam in her eyes. "At last I see it! Yes, come at me, Raymond! Show me the true strength of the one who has seen the last depths!"
He said nothing more, having already given her all the words he felt he owed her. It would not do any good, anyway. No word would reach her anymore. The only way he could cut through the veil of her insanity was with blade and claw and hellfire. And ice, forever cold and permeating, crawling along the floor until it reached the walls, reaching on to encompass them all in a prison of cold crystal.
His time was running short. He could not afford to play with her long, not like this. He had to end this, for the sake of those precious people.
If she ever cried out the truth as he bore upon her like the touch of death itself, nobody would have believed her either way.
Author: Lumelle
Title: Awake Again
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #24: we had to forget our old lives
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Resonating hunger".)
Word Count: 1,176
Rating: PG
Summary: After the run-in with Cassandra, Aarni is awake. This means Raymond has to come up with some explanations.
Raymond could hear Aarni approaching before the boy got into sight. Nevertheless, he waited until Aarni reached the doorway before nodding, still not lifting his eyes from the paper. "Good morning."
"Morning." Aarni wandered past him, heading for the fridge. He was moving a bit slower than usual, Raymond noticed. "Would it be any use to ask how I ended up home?"
"Depends on how much detail you need." Raymond shrugged. "What exactly happened, anyway?"
"Hell if I know." Aarni snorted, looking through the fridge. "We're almost out of cheese, by the way."
"So put it on the shopping list. And you know more than I do, I'm sure," Raymond pressed. "At least about the part where you got caught."
"This woman came up to me on the street. Asked something innocent enough, I'm really not sure what, but she seemed somehow suspicious. Didn't smell right, I guess. I tried to sidestep her, but the next thing I knew, everything went dark and not in the good way."
"Figures." Raymond sighed. "I should apologise."
"Why? Last I checked, you did not resemble that chick very much." Aarni took out some sandwich ingredients and started to put them together.
"She targeted you because of me, though." Raymond shook his head. "I failed to keep you safe, and for that I apologise."
"You got me back in one piece, didn't you? That's good enough for me at least."
"Not without you getting hurt." He finally allowed himself a glance at his son. Aarni was on his feet, perhaps, but his t-shirt did not conceal the bandages on his arms, nor did he manage to hide the occasional wince as he moved.
"In one piece," Aarni repeated with a firm tone. "And you got hurt as well."
"I did not."
"Did too, and don't bother lying." Aarni tsked. "I can smell pain, remember."
Hm. The boy was brighter than he probably should have been. Raymond gave a somewhat humourless chuckle. "I'm the one who got away closest to unscathed."
"Fair enough. And the crazy chick?"
For a moment, Raymond closed his eyes. "She won't bother us again." Rest well, Cassandra.
"I see." Aarni paused. "What happened?"
"I found her, and you. She tried to make me choose between two things she knew I would not give up on, so I decided to take you back regardless of your consent." He sighed. "I won our battle."
"And that's it for her, I assume."
"Far as I could make sure, she is gone." And he was quite an expert in such things.
"Good enough for me, then." Another pause. "So what did she have against you, anyway?"
"I'll be damned if I know." At Aarni's disbelieving gaze, he gave a wry chuckle. "Seriously. I… well. I know I turned her down, once in time, but back then she was not quite as, ah, volatile. I knew she's not quite in her right mind anymore, but I did not know her to be this dangerous, nor do I know just what triggered her to go after me, through you no less."
"And how does all this work with the guy in your bed?"
Raymond blinked in shock. "What?"
"I looked into your room when I first got up," Aarni replied with a calm tone. "Someone was sleeping there, looking even worse off than I feel. Nobody I know, either." Aarni gave him an incredulous glance. "What, you didn't expect to keep him a secret from me forever, did you?"
"Ah, no. I did not." Raymond shook his head. "Just hadn't managed to think of how to raise the subject yet."
"Well, 'who' and 'why' would work for a start." Aarni made his way to the table with a couple of sandwiches. "You did mention she tried to make you choose."
"Sharp as ever, I see." Raymond gave a slow nod. "The person in my bed is Adrian. Ze is the closest thing I've had to a lover since my wife died." The only one he might have said he had ever loved even more than Jean.
"And why have I not heard of this Adrian before?"
"I thought ze was dead." Raymond paused, then shook his head. "No, that's not true. Everyone else told me ze was dead. Everything pointed that way. I… I could not believe it. Could not believe that anything could take Adrian's life. But over the years, I had to give up."
"Looks like you were right, then." Aarni was going through his sandwiches like a starving man. Not that Raymond could blame him; he certainly needed the energy.
"Indeed it does." Raymond's voice softened. "I looked so long… I looked everywhere, visited so many places, met so many people. But I could not find Adrian. And then that madwoman somehow got her claws on hir…"
"You've got your love now, though."
"Yes, I do." Raymond gave the boy a serious gaze. "Aarni… I did not even consider choosing Adrian over you. Not for a moment."
"I know you didn't." Aarni gave him a tired little grin. "You're too much of an heroic idiot to ever make a choice like that."
"I guess I am." Raymond couldn't help but laugh. "You're hopeless, aren't you? Calling me an idiot for wanting to save you both."
"Hey, not my fault I wasn't raised to be a hero." Aarni rolled his eyes. "I'm not complaining since it got me out of trouble, too, though." He was almost done with his snack. Poor thing must have been truly starved.
"Any further questions, then?" He supposed there had to be more things Aarni would want to know.
"Not really. Not right now, anyway." Aarni finished eating in what had to be a record time, even for a hungry teenager. "I need more sleep before I think any further on this."
"More sleep?" Raymond raised his eyebrows. "You've been out of it since yesterday, and it's evening now."
"Yeah, but how much of that was sleeping and how much was just me being passed out?" Aarni yawned as though in protest. "I'm still exhausted and achy and if you have a problem with that, you can take it up with your would-be girlfriend. No, wait, you can't."
"Now that's just unfair."
"Told you I wasn't raised to be good." Aarni got up again. "You need the time to come up with suitable introductions, anyway. For both me and this Adrian. I quite doubt he's quite prepared to see you play father, either."
"I'm well aware." Oh, yes. He did have quite a lot to work through. "…Sleep well." And wake up.
"Oh, I will." Somehow, it sounded like Aarni was answering his unspoken request, too. "You get some rest at some point, too."
"I shall." He closed his eyes again, listening to the sound of Aarni's footsteps leaving the kitchen, disappearing off towards his room.
It wasn't the first time in these past couple of days that he felt like crying, but for the first time, it was in relief.
Author: Lumelle
Title: A Question of Dubious Virtue
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #2: there has to be an answer
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "A story never to tell").
Word Count: 844
Rating: PG
Summary: Aarni asks Raymond a question with a great chance of embarrassing them both. In the end, though, it ends up leading into a rather important point being made.
"Hey, Raymond, mind if I ask you something?"
"I rarely chastise an enquiring mind." And it was rare that Aarni bothered with such manners. Raymond pushed up his glasses even as he took his eyes away from his book. "What is it?"
"Is it possible to smell arousal?"
Okay, now that gave him pause. "What?"
"You heard me well enough." The boy had the gall to roll his eyes at Raymond. "Arousal. Is it possible to smell that?"
"Depends on whom you ask." Raymond put the bookmark into his book. This was probably going to take a while. "Though humans do give off certain chemicals when aroused, they can't consciously smell it on each other. However, it has been showed they can subconsciously detect those smells."
"I didn't ask about humans, though." Aarni leaned against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Answer the question, please."
"For a vampire, it's fairly easy," Raymond sighed. "At the core, we're still predators, and rather subtle ones at that. It's very beneficial to be able to detect a target who will be more, ah, responsive."
"And dragons?"
Well, that explained his interest, didn't it. "I wouldn't swear on anything, honestly," Raymond replied. "In dragon form, I'm sure you could. In human form, I've been told that the strength of senses depends on your element. I wouldn't dare offer any hypotheses on the abilities of a shadow dragon when talking to one."
"I just, well. Sometimes I notice I'm picking up something strange from people around me." Aarni shook his head. "It shows up pretty often at school, especially when some couple is making out in the corner or the guys are talking about girls or whatever."
"That would sound like it fits, yes." Raymond raised his eyebrows. "So why did you ask if you already knew? Just to embarrass me?"
"I didn't know, I just had a suspicion," Aarni corrected him, sounding almost annoyed. "It's not like I could know for sure, especially when, well." He looked aside, his frown getting deeper.
"Well what?" Raymond prompted. "Do you have some reason to suspect it's something else?"
"I've never smelled it from you." Aarni refused to look directly at him. "Not even when you're around Adrian."
Raymond blinked, then chuckled. "I can assure you that does not mean your theory is mistaken." He shook his head, grinning. "That would be because I have never been aroused by Adrian."
"What?" Now it was Aarni's turn to blink in surprise. "But you share a bed!"
"We sleep in the same bed, yes." Raymond nodded. "Operative word here being 'sleep'. Neither of us is very interested in the whole sex thing."
"Because Adrian is weird?"
"Let hir catch you saying that again and ze'll first skin you alive, then ground you for a month." Raymond rolled his eyes. "No, not because Adrian is 'weird'. Most fae have practically inexistent sex drives to begin with, while I am simply asexual."
"Asexual?" Aarni echoed.
"Yes. As in, I'm not interested in any gender."
"Fair enough." What, no demands on how that was possible? Wasn't this a pleasant surprise. "Is that some vampire thing?" Or perhaps he'd spoken a bit too soon.
"You're left-handed. Is that some dragon thing?"
Aarni frowned again. "Don't be ridiculous."
"And why exactly is that any more ridiculous than your question?" Raymond snorted. "No, it's not 'some vampire thing'. I just told you that detecting arousal is just another tool for hunting in the end. Seduction wouldn't be a very effective trap if vampires weren't turned on by anyone."
"Then why's that?"
"Because I was born that way, silly boy. They didn't completely overwrite my brain when I got turned, you know."
"Does that mean there are asexual humans, too?" The frown deepened.
"Far as I am aware, it's a rare but existing occurrence in most races that feature varied sexual orientations to begin with."
"…Even dragons?"
Something in Aarni's tone made Raymond look at him closely. "Something you'd like to tell me, son?"
"Would it matter if there was?" Aarni raised his eyebrows, now, something close to a smirk on his face.
"Not one bit and you know it." Raymond smiled.
"In that case, there are more important things to discuss."
"More important things? Such as what?"
Aarni checked his watch. "Such as the fact that Adrian is getting home in half an hour, you promised hir dinner when ze returns and you haven't even started."
Raymond let out a rare curse and bounced up from his chair. "And you couldn't let me know earlier?"
"You know how Adrian gets when you make me remind you about stuff you promised hir." That was most definitely a smirk.
"And you know how ze gets when ze's hungry, so I recommend you get your ass in the kitchen and start helping me right away." He rushed toward kitchen, knowing that for all his leering, Aarni would follow.
He wasn't entirely sure why vampires could smell relief, but it was still nice to notice.
Author: Lumelle
Title: One Cold Afternoon
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #5: tell me, where is evil bred, in the heart or in the head?
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Fallen fae").
Word Count: 1,941
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Aarni has come home. Adrian is there to welcome him. They agree on a few things in as much as the two of them are ever going to agree.
It was drawing close to winter, Aarni noticed as he sat down on the back porch, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a lighter from the other. Of course he'd been cold flying here, up in the air at night, but even now as he sat on the small yard with no wind or other such annoyances he found a shiver of cold sneaking its way into his body. Growling in annoyance at such a thing, he lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag of it before blowing out the smoke. It twirled into the air in a faint cloud, disappearing soon.
Nobody was home, not that he'd expected it. He'd taken care to time his arrival so he'd have a bit of peace and quiet before being subjected to any form of parental fussing. Not that Raymond had ever been too inclined for going overboard in such things, but he did have his moments, and they all too often coincided with the times Aarni returned after a trip. It was like the old idiot wanted him to leave again right away.
It was nice, the relative silence of a small city. Not that he'd call it a city anyway, not after the places he'd spent the last couple of months in. A quaint little town, perhaps, just about a step above a village. It was such a small and boring place. Perfect for hiding, but very little else.
"Well, look at what the cat dragged in." Speak of the devil.
"As you can plainly see, I'm not actually in," Aarni pointed out, not even turning to look as he heard Adrian walking closer behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm the one who should ask that, brat. Raymond didn't mention you were coming home today." Adrian came up to his side and sat down, dark hair pooling on the porch behind hir.
"That would be because I didn't tell Raymond I was coming, either." Aarni drew in another drag. "Thought you'd both be out at this time of the day." If nothing else, Adrian liked to do little patrols. Not the best way of warding off attention, but hey, what did he know.
"Nice planning, except we're watching over a little experiment for a friend for a couple of days. It's sensitive enough that I agreed to stay home today to check up on it every now and then." Adrian glanced at his cigarette. "Give me one."
"An experiment, hmm? Nothing explosive, I hope. I like my bed." He tapped out another cigarette, offering it to Adrian. As the other placed it between hir lips, he reached to light it. "Raymond wouldn't approve."
"Raymond isn't here." Adrian shrugged. "Nothing explosive, no. Just a little potion that absolutely must not be overheated."
"Potion, eh? Must be the panda boy, then." No denial came forth. Confirmed, then.
"So, where on Earth have I been seen now?"
"I never said I faked being you this time." He didn't even bother to actually sound like he was denying it.
"Oh, shut up. You enjoy fooling them and you know it. I was just curious as to how far I've managed to get this time."
"Equador." Nice and warm. Yay for spring. "Mainly on the magical side, though I did do some tourist-y shopping on the regular side, too. Might have gotten into a little fight, too, so they'll definitely remember. The bastards will be combing through those clues for ages."
"I see." Adrian nodded. "I suppose I should thank you."
"You know, it would be much easier if you just changed your appearance a bit," Aarni pointed out. "The only reason you have to lie so low is because you're so damn easy to recognise. Who else will parade around with a yard of hair and a heirloom sword? Or just walk in and tell them to go screw themselves instead of waiting around for them to corner you in some dark alley. It's not like they can take a shot at you in front of everyone for doing nothing but existing."
"You would be surprised at the things the court can accomplish for very small slights." Adrian looked almost wistful, eyes directed off into the distance. "I refuse to change who and what I am. If they find me, then so be it, but I won't go out and invite their attention upon myself."
"Hey, it's your funeral. Just pointing out that father will cry, and I'm not very good at comforting people." To say the least.
"I'm not going to die, and Raymond won't have to cry, and you're better than you give yourself credit for."
"Oh, please." He snorted. "I'm an evil bastard through and through."
"You're a teddy bear. A very surly, occasionally violent teddy bear, but still."
"Please. The only reason I haven't become a full-blown criminal yet is that I don't want to give everyone the satisfaction of having been right about me all along. I'm a bastard, born and bred."
"Bred, maybe, but I doubt you were born that way. Your twin sure seems to have done well enough for himself as a good guy." See? Even Adrian agreed he was indeed a bastard.
"The only thing I have in common with that sissy is the basic instinct to claw each other's guts out." Aarni rolled his eyes. "How is the wuss, anyway?"
"Oh, Pyry's great. Nothing new, I don't think, except he finally got his long-distance license." Well, it'd taken him damn well long enough. How hard was it to stay out of sight, anyway? "As is Riku, by the way, since that's what you really wanted to know."
Aarni couldn't help but tense for a fraction of a second before relaxing, letting out a chuckle. "Why'd I care about the four-eyes?"
"I'm not blind, brat. I've known since the first time I saw you look at him." Adrian smirked a bit. "You like him."
"Of course I like him. I have to deal with him on a regular basis. If I didn't like him, he'd have been a dragon snack years ago." And again, he was tensing up. Damn his treacherous body.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Again that same damn smirk. "You like him. Like-like him, for the kindergartner in you. Are interested in him."
"Fuck off. I'd rather stick my dick in an electric fence than anywhere near him." Because he was oh so interested in rubbing his bits against anyone else. Not.
"Funny. I do not remember mentioning genitals at all." Oh, and now ze was playing innocent? Bastard. "Just because you don't want sex with him doesn't necessarily mean you don't want him. The two don't always line up. I should know, if anyone."
"I don't want him." He just wished he could have switched places with his brother, sometimes.
"I'm sure." Adrian paused for the duration of a few more drags of smoke. "So, how long has it been?"
"Not going to give up, are you?"
"Nuh-uh." Adrian gave him a smug smirk.
"Since I first laid eyes on him, more or less." He rolled his eyes. "Don't get all excited. Nothing's going to come from that."
"Oh?" Adrian raised hir eyebrows. "So you've been pining after him for years and you're not even going to let him know?"
"Hell no." He dropped the rest of the cigarette on the ground, smothering it with his heel. "Ice cube would hear sooner or later and freak out for no reason."
"He might like you, too."
"Don't be an idiot. Even a blind man would see how smitten he is with my brother, and the other way around. I may be a bastard, but I'm not evil enough to mess with that, nor stupid enough to think I'd ever stand a chance."
"You're selling yourself short again." Adrian snorted. "You're cute, Aarni, and for all that you do have your bad habits," to say the least, "you do have your good points as well. It's not impossible that someone might like you."
"Adrian, I get turned off by sex. I've been led to believe that such a thing is something of a hindrance to actually having it."
"If sex was required in every relationship, you'd have a single father."
"Oh, sure. Which is why it'd be such a brilliant idea for Riku to switch from his loving, cooking, caring, nice sexy boyfriend to a bitter, violent borderline psychopath who'd freak out at the mere idea of sex."
"You're not a psychopath and you know it." Adrian ruffled his hair, the bastard. How would ze like to have hir hair messed up? "So, what? You plan to just watch from the sidelines?"
"And make sure Pyry doesn't screw up too badly, yeah." Aarni sighed, getting up to his feet. "Riku's better off without me, either way. Anyone would be."
"Oh, omelette." Was that pity in hir voice?
"Don't start. It's not that big a deal." And really, it wasn't. He was perfectly content single and free. "Not like I'm burning up to find someone to hold hands with and cuddle in front of the fireplace with or whatever the hell dating couples do when they're not going at it like bunnies. Riku's the only one I've ever held any kind of interest for, and that doesn't mean I'm going to be devastated for not having him all to myself."
"Good to know you're at least happy, I guess."
"Oh, yes. I'm bloody well ecstatic." He patted Adrian's head, but did not ruffle. He knew better than to do that. "I'm going to raid the fridge. Anything in there that'll explode if I touch it, gotewld?" It sounded weird, dropping a dragon word in a normal sentence, but he couldn't resist.
"Nothing that I know of. The potion's in the study and Raymond will skin you alive if you touch it. And don't call me words I don't know, brat."
"Quit whining and look it up. It's spelt with 'fuck you', by the way," Aarni called over his shoulder as he walked inside. Adrian called after him, something snarky no doubt, about minding his language or taking off his shoes or something equally unimportant. Aarni paid no mind, heading to kitchen instead.
The kitchen smelled of toast and tea, the special blend Raymond always ordered from his friend in the Atlantic archipelago. The tablecloth was still just as faded, the tea stains having persisted through any kind of cleaning they had subjected the poor thing to over the years, and still Raymond always insisted putting it on when he came home since it'd been on the table when he had first arrived in the house. Meaning he'd had someone tip him off, the sneaky bastard. It was all familiar and old and boring, down to the shopping list on the fridge that had been almost identical when he'd left, and for the first time in days Aarni started to feel warm.
He heard the door being opened and closed, then Adrian's steps heading toward the study and probably the dictionary Raymond kept there. Meaning he had enough time to start up the coffee before Adrian came and hugged him or something equally sentimental.
Gotewld. Hatching parent. Not strictly correct, but at least it implied no gender. Because dragon families could be tricky and having non-binary family members was even trickier.
He might have been a cynical bastard, but nevertheless he found his lips twitching into something almost like a smile as he took out two cups.
Title: Little Book of Happiness
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #6: what would they do with their freedom?
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Demon tongue")
Word Count: 858
Rating: G
Summary: Aarni is looking for a book. Though his request is somewhat unusual, Raymond finds him one.
Raymond paused in the doorway, quiet as he observed an unusual phenomenon. His library was habitually empty as he entered it; even when some of his scarce friends might drop by, they rarely made any ventures into what Conan had once called his inner sanctum. This time, however, he found an intruder among his numerous books.
Though it had been a few days, Aarni still looked as pale and exhausted as when he had first entered the house. Not that Raymond could blame him. The boy hadn't been sleeping well, and his appetite was quite pitiful as well despite Raymond's best attempts to encourage him to eat. It seemed he had taken the events of the past weekend quite harshly. Fancy that.
"Looking for something in particular?"
Aarni started, then spun around to look at him. There was an almost defiant look in his eyes. "The door was open."
"Oh, I'm well aware. I make a point of leaving it open for ease of access." He walked further in, placing the book he had been about to return on the desk in the middle of the room. "If I did not want you to enter, I would have done my best to bolt the door. And trust me, my best is quite remarkable." He knew better than to expect a teenager to stay out of places that weren't explicitly allowed for him. Or even those that were explicitly prohibited, for that matter.
"You've got a lot of books." A flat observation as the boy looked around, shuffling his feet.
"It's quite the collection, yes, even if I say so myself. My pride and joy, as it happens." He raised his eyebrows. "Much though I hate to repeat myself, is there something in particular you were looking for? I'm afraid I'm quite short on the kinds of literature aimed at people of your age in particular, but I'm sure there is something in here that might catch your interest."
Aarni opened his mouth as though to say something, then shut it with an almost audible snap. Well, wasn't that interesting.
"Yes? What is it?" Raymond's lips twitched. "If I don't have something you want, I can get it. Goodness knows I can never have enough excuses to buy books."
"You have anything in dragon-writ?"
"You read it?" Raymond blinked. Though some dragons did take great pains to preserve their old language, it was not often that he came across young people who had taken the trouble to learn the associated alphabet. The level of recognition alone escaped many; to know them well enough to allow for any ease of reading was quite remarkable.
"Some." The boy shuffled his feet again, looking uneasy. It wasn't the awkwardness one might have expected from a teenager, though. Raymond was reminded of a predator about to pounce, and he had seen many predators in his day. "My father thought it was good for me to learn."
"I see." Raymond gave him a slow nod. "As it happens, I do have a couple of books in the old tongue, though I'm not sure if they would be particularly engaging to you." He wandered toward the appropriate shelf, giving it a once-over. "Hm. I doubt you would have much use for this one." He pushed aside a book on dragon superstitions, knowing without even looking that the majority of them had to do with bad omens and misfortune involving shadow dragons. "A book on potions, probably not your area of interest. How about this?" He took out a copy of 'Failed Slayers: Breaking the Spear', holding it up for the boy to see.
"I don't think I've read that one." Though Raymond was sure Aarni did his best to sound uninterested, there was no concealing that little glint in his eye. "Can I borrow it?"
"May I," Raymond corrected without thinking. "And yes, you may. Any and all books in this room are yours to read, as long as you return them in the same condition."
"Understood." Aarni snatched the book from his hand, unable to resist a small smirk. "I'm not four, you know."
"Never thought you were. Some people can be very thoughtless about books, that's all." Raymond shook his head, taking out another book from the shelf and placing it on the desk. "The book's fairly old, so it's possible you may not have encountered all the words before. The dictionary uses the old alphabetising scheme but should be fairly easy to use otherwise."
"Yeah, yeah." Aarni's tone made Raymond quite doubt he had heard a word, the book already open in his hands. "I'll do that."
"Dinner will be in an hour," Raymond added, heading to the doorway. "I will call for you then."
He got no response this time. Raymond headed for the kitchen, shaking his head in faint amusement. The smile that crept on his face was mostly relief, though.
This was the first time since that night that he had seen the boy's eyes hold the look of a living person.
He could only hope he could keep that spark there.
Author: Lumelle
Title: The Truth of Cassandra
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #29: one last desperate hope
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Tragic shadow").
Word Count: 2,146
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Raymond meets an old enemy. However, to her misfortune, she makes the mistake of threatening Raymond's family.
"And just what do you think you are doing, you bastard?"
As he spoke, the woman spun around. Her lips curled a bit. "Ah, Raymond, my sweet," she cooed. A shiver ran down his spine. "I have been waiting for you."
"Cut the crap, thank you." Not the most polite way of putting it, but he was not feeling very polite. "Where is the boy?"
"What boy? I do not recall any boy." Was she actually batting her eyes at him? She couldn't be serious.
"The boy. My boy. Dragon flightling. Where is he?" His tone grew colder with each word as he walked toward her, his steps cold. It wouldn't do to alarm her too soon. If he got her into a battle mode, Aarni might be hurt even worse.
"Oh, please. As though you actually care about him one bit." Her smirk took on a mocking shade as she nodded to a corner behind her. "Worry not, he's still in one piece. Breathing, too, last time I bothered to check."
Aarni lay crumbled up in the shadows. He could not smell death, not yet at least, nor much blood. Good. That was the most of a guarantee he could have right now. Another step forward, still careful. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why? Why am I doing what?" She chuckled, a sound like sweet little bells tingling in a summer breeze. Silver bells, he assumed, with sunlight glinting off the finely polished surface. "But I am not doing anything, my love. Here I stand, prepared to welcome you to my abode, and you barge in asking all kind of rude questions and glaring at me as though I had done something wrong."
"I am not here for games, Cassandra." He shook his head, feeling very weary. "I'm only here to get my boy. And I want to know why you would hurt him. Do you not have enough ways to hurt me without attacking what's little more than a hatchling, still?"
"Oh, please, Raymond. As though I don't have anything better than to hunt down and beat up little kids. It's not like he was much of a challenge, even if he did try to put up a fight." She shook her head, long tresses of blood red swishing around her shoulders. "You truly underestimate me, don't you?"
"Then what the hell are you playing at?" Coming to a halt in the middle of the room -- though hall would have been more accurate a term, or perhaps a chamber -- he glared at her, hoping to get at least some form of an answer. He could feel the flashes of red and black entering his eyes, but did not bother to hold them back. It wasn't like there was anyone around to see him to be startled by them. Not anyone he cared about, in any case.
He would not look at Aarni anymore. He would not, not as long as he could hold her gaze. It wouldn't do to show any weakness, or she would not hesitate to strike.
"Playing? Games? Truly, you have the strangest ideas sometimes." Reaching into the shadows, she drew out a seat for herself and sat down, elegant as ever as she all but draped herself over an arm rest of nothing but darkness and silent screams. "I only want one thing, Raymond darling." Her lips twitched a bit. "I want to break you."
"Break me?" he echoed. "You're welcome to try, princess. Better and badder ones than you have tried over the years. None have managed yet." As though he would bow to her, no matter what.
"Oh, worry not. I do not plan to use pain or other such pitiful causes. It's not like you would succumb to a simple trick such as that." She snorted, then directed a serious gaze at him, the smirk gone for a second. "I'm feeling generous tonight, Raymond. I'm actually going to give you a choice."
"A choice?" he echoed. "Choice between what? Kissing your right hand or your left?"
"Please. If you were that easy to beat, what pleasure would there be in doing so?" And now the lips were curling into a smirk again. "I shall give you a gift, Raymond. A gift of one life, a life other than yours, to take away from here tonight. Any you do not choose will be declared forfeit to me and will become my playthings until I grow bored."
"As though there is much to choose." He snorted, taking a step toward where Aarni lay. "I shall just take my boy and be on my way."
"Will you, now?" Her lips twitched in a manner he did not like. "Do consider for a moment, Raymond my sweet. Would it truly be a choice if I had but one life captive?"
"I do not care." He looked at her with all the calmness he could muster, forcing his anger back. "No matter who else you have captured, I will take the boy. He is under my care and my responsibility. I will not allow him to come to harm, no matter what the cost to myself."
"And you're not even going to see what else you are playing for?" She pouted her lips. "You truly are no fun."
"Sorry for knowing where my loyalties lie." He had taken the boy to be part of his family. He would protect the child until the end.
"Oh, but I don't think you truly know that. You see, I know how hard-headed you can be. I would never make you choose between family and a stranger." She stood up again, the seat melting back into the shadows. "I found it, Raymond. I found what you have been searching."
Despite his best attempts not to give her the satisfaction of reacting to her words, Raymond froze at that. "You did not."
"Oh, yes." Her voice bordered on purring as she was the one to walk toward him, this time. "The one you have been searching, Raymond. Everyone else was sure the poor soul was lost to you forever, but you kept searching. You kept looking, sure that you would find your beloved. And you know what? You were right. It wasn't lost after all. The only problem is... I found it first."
"You lie." His voice sounded hoarse even in his own ears. "You must."
"What fun would there be in lying to you about such things if I did not have the proof to back up my claims?" She shook her head. "I know everything about you, Raymond. Of course I would look for it as well." With a wave of her hand, the curtain at the back wall slid aside. Behind it, though, was not the same dark wall that surrounded them elsewhere. Instead, Raymond saw a small alcove, sheltering something not much unlike crystal. A diamond cocoon, he realised. A cocoon with someone inside.
A tall, slender figure, the skin as pale as the long, flowing hair was dark. Though the eyes were closed, he could almost feel their gaze. Could almost see the smirk he had missed for years, now.
"Adrian," he breathed, unable to hold back. "Adrian..."
"Yes. I found your little plaything." She walked closer, almost past him, setting a hand on his shoulder as she came to a halt by his side. "You have a choice, Raymond darling," she whispered, the sultry tones of her voice echoing in the chamber in a manner they should not have. "A choice of one life you may walk away with. So choose wisely, my beloved, because the one you leave behind will become mine to do with as I please."
He was quiet for a while. His eyes were locked on Adrian, trapped within the diamond. The cocoon was expertly spun, he realised as much without even going near. Disenchanting it would be tricky no matter who tried it. It might even be almost impossible for anyone but Cassandra, the caster. And as long as the cocoon remained, Adrian would be perfectly at her mercy. His love. The one he had been searching for so long.
His eyes slid to the corner. Aarni lay there, crumbled up on the floor. His hair appeared to almost glow in the shadows, white as it was in the almost-darkness. For all his rash bravado earlier, he looked incredibly fragile just now, lying on the cold stone floor. So fragile and helpless. In the end, he was nothing but a child, a child who had entered a word far too big and dangerous for him yet. A child who did not have a soul in the entire world. No one besides him.
And she was telling him to choose.
"And if I do not want to choose?" he whispered.
"Ah, but you must." She snickered. "I will not allow you to go with them both, you realise. I am giving you a gift, remember, but the gift is only for one of their lives. The other is mine." Her voice dropped, the echo gone as instead she spoke to him and him alone. "And as I play, I will let the poor thing know you chose another. I will say it over and over until it's the last thing remaining in their broken mind... the night you abandoned your most precious thing."
He gritted his teeth, his fangs tickling as they pushed their way out without their consent. "You are insane, Cassandra," he breathed. "You have lost your mind."
"Perhaps." Such an easy admission from her. "Perhaps it is you who is insane, though, thinking you could resist. Say, Raymond, why not just come to me? I might even feel merciful and let them both go. Without you, of course. I do not care which toy I am left with, but I must have one."
"No. You truly are insane." Raymond shook his head, bringing up a hand to push hers away. "I will not choose. I will never choose."
"So you will rather forfeit them both?"
"No." He stepped away, and spun around as soon as he did, glaring at her back. "I will fight you for them both."
"Fight me? My sweet, how naive you must be to even entertain such notions." She laughed as she turned to face him. Silver bells in the sunshine again. "I am not like you, surely you realise. As I fight, there may be casualties. Collateral damage, if you will." Her smirk widened. "But that's your plan anyway, isn't it? Have them both killed here and now. Spare them both the pain. I have to say, it's a nice and devious plan from you."
"Do not place me on your level, you devil." His words were harsh, his voice dropping to a deep coldness. The floor under his feet was starting to frost over as he clenched his fists, glaring at her with eyes that were now black and red all over.
This was all right. As long as he was between her and them, it was all right.
"My, my. Isn't this interesting." She examined her nails for a second, then brandished her claws. "It has been a while since I had any actual fun. Do come at me, my love. I yearn to dance with you again. I yearn to hear your sweet words of hatred." Insane. She had to be insane.
"I only have one thing to say to you." He reached out his arms, drawing from the shadows the weapon he needed to deal with the likes of her. "Cassandra... Go to hell."
The scythe of shadows was cold in his hands as he rushed forward, as cold as the depths he had drawn it from. For a moment, he saw a startled look on her face before it broke into an insane laughter.
"At last!" she cried out, a mad gleam in her eyes. "At last I see it! Yes, come at me, Raymond! Show me the true strength of the one who has seen the last depths!"
He said nothing more, having already given her all the words he felt he owed her. It would not do any good, anyway. No word would reach her anymore. The only way he could cut through the veil of her insanity was with blade and claw and hellfire. And ice, forever cold and permeating, crawling along the floor until it reached the walls, reaching on to encompass them all in a prison of cold crystal.
His time was running short. He could not afford to play with her long, not like this. He had to end this, for the sake of those precious people.
If she ever cried out the truth as he bore upon her like the touch of death itself, nobody would have believed her either way.
Author: Lumelle
Title: Awake Again
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #24: we had to forget our old lives
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Resonating hunger".)
Word Count: 1,176
Rating: PG
Summary: After the run-in with Cassandra, Aarni is awake. This means Raymond has to come up with some explanations.
Raymond could hear Aarni approaching before the boy got into sight. Nevertheless, he waited until Aarni reached the doorway before nodding, still not lifting his eyes from the paper. "Good morning."
"Morning." Aarni wandered past him, heading for the fridge. He was moving a bit slower than usual, Raymond noticed. "Would it be any use to ask how I ended up home?"
"Depends on how much detail you need." Raymond shrugged. "What exactly happened, anyway?"
"Hell if I know." Aarni snorted, looking through the fridge. "We're almost out of cheese, by the way."
"So put it on the shopping list. And you know more than I do, I'm sure," Raymond pressed. "At least about the part where you got caught."
"This woman came up to me on the street. Asked something innocent enough, I'm really not sure what, but she seemed somehow suspicious. Didn't smell right, I guess. I tried to sidestep her, but the next thing I knew, everything went dark and not in the good way."
"Figures." Raymond sighed. "I should apologise."
"Why? Last I checked, you did not resemble that chick very much." Aarni took out some sandwich ingredients and started to put them together.
"She targeted you because of me, though." Raymond shook his head. "I failed to keep you safe, and for that I apologise."
"You got me back in one piece, didn't you? That's good enough for me at least."
"Not without you getting hurt." He finally allowed himself a glance at his son. Aarni was on his feet, perhaps, but his t-shirt did not conceal the bandages on his arms, nor did he manage to hide the occasional wince as he moved.
"In one piece," Aarni repeated with a firm tone. "And you got hurt as well."
"I did not."
"Did too, and don't bother lying." Aarni tsked. "I can smell pain, remember."
Hm. The boy was brighter than he probably should have been. Raymond gave a somewhat humourless chuckle. "I'm the one who got away closest to unscathed."
"Fair enough. And the crazy chick?"
For a moment, Raymond closed his eyes. "She won't bother us again." Rest well, Cassandra.
"I see." Aarni paused. "What happened?"
"I found her, and you. She tried to make me choose between two things she knew I would not give up on, so I decided to take you back regardless of your consent." He sighed. "I won our battle."
"And that's it for her, I assume."
"Far as I could make sure, she is gone." And he was quite an expert in such things.
"Good enough for me, then." Another pause. "So what did she have against you, anyway?"
"I'll be damned if I know." At Aarni's disbelieving gaze, he gave a wry chuckle. "Seriously. I… well. I know I turned her down, once in time, but back then she was not quite as, ah, volatile. I knew she's not quite in her right mind anymore, but I did not know her to be this dangerous, nor do I know just what triggered her to go after me, through you no less."
"And how does all this work with the guy in your bed?"
Raymond blinked in shock. "What?"
"I looked into your room when I first got up," Aarni replied with a calm tone. "Someone was sleeping there, looking even worse off than I feel. Nobody I know, either." Aarni gave him an incredulous glance. "What, you didn't expect to keep him a secret from me forever, did you?"
"Ah, no. I did not." Raymond shook his head. "Just hadn't managed to think of how to raise the subject yet."
"Well, 'who' and 'why' would work for a start." Aarni made his way to the table with a couple of sandwiches. "You did mention she tried to make you choose."
"Sharp as ever, I see." Raymond gave a slow nod. "The person in my bed is Adrian. Ze is the closest thing I've had to a lover since my wife died." The only one he might have said he had ever loved even more than Jean.
"And why have I not heard of this Adrian before?"
"I thought ze was dead." Raymond paused, then shook his head. "No, that's not true. Everyone else told me ze was dead. Everything pointed that way. I… I could not believe it. Could not believe that anything could take Adrian's life. But over the years, I had to give up."
"Looks like you were right, then." Aarni was going through his sandwiches like a starving man. Not that Raymond could blame him; he certainly needed the energy.
"Indeed it does." Raymond's voice softened. "I looked so long… I looked everywhere, visited so many places, met so many people. But I could not find Adrian. And then that madwoman somehow got her claws on hir…"
"You've got your love now, though."
"Yes, I do." Raymond gave the boy a serious gaze. "Aarni… I did not even consider choosing Adrian over you. Not for a moment."
"I know you didn't." Aarni gave him a tired little grin. "You're too much of an heroic idiot to ever make a choice like that."
"I guess I am." Raymond couldn't help but laugh. "You're hopeless, aren't you? Calling me an idiot for wanting to save you both."
"Hey, not my fault I wasn't raised to be a hero." Aarni rolled his eyes. "I'm not complaining since it got me out of trouble, too, though." He was almost done with his snack. Poor thing must have been truly starved.
"Any further questions, then?" He supposed there had to be more things Aarni would want to know.
"Not really. Not right now, anyway." Aarni finished eating in what had to be a record time, even for a hungry teenager. "I need more sleep before I think any further on this."
"More sleep?" Raymond raised his eyebrows. "You've been out of it since yesterday, and it's evening now."
"Yeah, but how much of that was sleeping and how much was just me being passed out?" Aarni yawned as though in protest. "I'm still exhausted and achy and if you have a problem with that, you can take it up with your would-be girlfriend. No, wait, you can't."
"Now that's just unfair."
"Told you I wasn't raised to be good." Aarni got up again. "You need the time to come up with suitable introductions, anyway. For both me and this Adrian. I quite doubt he's quite prepared to see you play father, either."
"I'm well aware." Oh, yes. He did have quite a lot to work through. "…Sleep well." And wake up.
"Oh, I will." Somehow, it sounded like Aarni was answering his unspoken request, too. "You get some rest at some point, too."
"I shall." He closed his eyes again, listening to the sound of Aarni's footsteps leaving the kitchen, disappearing off towards his room.
It wasn't the first time in these past couple of days that he felt like crying, but for the first time, it was in relief.
Author: Lumelle
Title: A Question of Dubious Virtue
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #2: there has to be an answer
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "A story never to tell").
Word Count: 844
Rating: PG
Summary: Aarni asks Raymond a question with a great chance of embarrassing them both. In the end, though, it ends up leading into a rather important point being made.
"Hey, Raymond, mind if I ask you something?"
"I rarely chastise an enquiring mind." And it was rare that Aarni bothered with such manners. Raymond pushed up his glasses even as he took his eyes away from his book. "What is it?"
"Is it possible to smell arousal?"
Okay, now that gave him pause. "What?"
"You heard me well enough." The boy had the gall to roll his eyes at Raymond. "Arousal. Is it possible to smell that?"
"Depends on whom you ask." Raymond put the bookmark into his book. This was probably going to take a while. "Though humans do give off certain chemicals when aroused, they can't consciously smell it on each other. However, it has been showed they can subconsciously detect those smells."
"I didn't ask about humans, though." Aarni leaned against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Answer the question, please."
"For a vampire, it's fairly easy," Raymond sighed. "At the core, we're still predators, and rather subtle ones at that. It's very beneficial to be able to detect a target who will be more, ah, responsive."
"And dragons?"
Well, that explained his interest, didn't it. "I wouldn't swear on anything, honestly," Raymond replied. "In dragon form, I'm sure you could. In human form, I've been told that the strength of senses depends on your element. I wouldn't dare offer any hypotheses on the abilities of a shadow dragon when talking to one."
"I just, well. Sometimes I notice I'm picking up something strange from people around me." Aarni shook his head. "It shows up pretty often at school, especially when some couple is making out in the corner or the guys are talking about girls or whatever."
"That would sound like it fits, yes." Raymond raised his eyebrows. "So why did you ask if you already knew? Just to embarrass me?"
"I didn't know, I just had a suspicion," Aarni corrected him, sounding almost annoyed. "It's not like I could know for sure, especially when, well." He looked aside, his frown getting deeper.
"Well what?" Raymond prompted. "Do you have some reason to suspect it's something else?"
"I've never smelled it from you." Aarni refused to look directly at him. "Not even when you're around Adrian."
Raymond blinked, then chuckled. "I can assure you that does not mean your theory is mistaken." He shook his head, grinning. "That would be because I have never been aroused by Adrian."
"What?" Now it was Aarni's turn to blink in surprise. "But you share a bed!"
"We sleep in the same bed, yes." Raymond nodded. "Operative word here being 'sleep'. Neither of us is very interested in the whole sex thing."
"Because Adrian is weird?"
"Let hir catch you saying that again and ze'll first skin you alive, then ground you for a month." Raymond rolled his eyes. "No, not because Adrian is 'weird'. Most fae have practically inexistent sex drives to begin with, while I am simply asexual."
"Asexual?" Aarni echoed.
"Yes. As in, I'm not interested in any gender."
"Fair enough." What, no demands on how that was possible? Wasn't this a pleasant surprise. "Is that some vampire thing?" Or perhaps he'd spoken a bit too soon.
"You're left-handed. Is that some dragon thing?"
Aarni frowned again. "Don't be ridiculous."
"And why exactly is that any more ridiculous than your question?" Raymond snorted. "No, it's not 'some vampire thing'. I just told you that detecting arousal is just another tool for hunting in the end. Seduction wouldn't be a very effective trap if vampires weren't turned on by anyone."
"Then why's that?"
"Because I was born that way, silly boy. They didn't completely overwrite my brain when I got turned, you know."
"Does that mean there are asexual humans, too?" The frown deepened.
"Far as I am aware, it's a rare but existing occurrence in most races that feature varied sexual orientations to begin with."
"…Even dragons?"
Something in Aarni's tone made Raymond look at him closely. "Something you'd like to tell me, son?"
"Would it matter if there was?" Aarni raised his eyebrows, now, something close to a smirk on his face.
"Not one bit and you know it." Raymond smiled.
"In that case, there are more important things to discuss."
"More important things? Such as what?"
Aarni checked his watch. "Such as the fact that Adrian is getting home in half an hour, you promised hir dinner when ze returns and you haven't even started."
Raymond let out a rare curse and bounced up from his chair. "And you couldn't let me know earlier?"
"You know how Adrian gets when you make me remind you about stuff you promised hir." That was most definitely a smirk.
"And you know how ze gets when ze's hungry, so I recommend you get your ass in the kitchen and start helping me right away." He rushed toward kitchen, knowing that for all his leering, Aarni would follow.
He wasn't entirely sure why vampires could smell relief, but it was still nice to notice.
Author: Lumelle
Title: One Cold Afternoon
'Verse: Dragons
Challenge: Dragon Fruit #5: tell me, where is evil bred, in the heart or in the head?
Toppings/Extras: Gummy Bunnies (500themes; "Fallen fae").
Word Count: 1,941
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Aarni has come home. Adrian is there to welcome him. They agree on a few things in as much as the two of them are ever going to agree.
It was drawing close to winter, Aarni noticed as he sat down on the back porch, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a lighter from the other. Of course he'd been cold flying here, up in the air at night, but even now as he sat on the small yard with no wind or other such annoyances he found a shiver of cold sneaking its way into his body. Growling in annoyance at such a thing, he lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag of it before blowing out the smoke. It twirled into the air in a faint cloud, disappearing soon.
Nobody was home, not that he'd expected it. He'd taken care to time his arrival so he'd have a bit of peace and quiet before being subjected to any form of parental fussing. Not that Raymond had ever been too inclined for going overboard in such things, but he did have his moments, and they all too often coincided with the times Aarni returned after a trip. It was like the old idiot wanted him to leave again right away.
It was nice, the relative silence of a small city. Not that he'd call it a city anyway, not after the places he'd spent the last couple of months in. A quaint little town, perhaps, just about a step above a village. It was such a small and boring place. Perfect for hiding, but very little else.
"Well, look at what the cat dragged in." Speak of the devil.
"As you can plainly see, I'm not actually in," Aarni pointed out, not even turning to look as he heard Adrian walking closer behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm the one who should ask that, brat. Raymond didn't mention you were coming home today." Adrian came up to his side and sat down, dark hair pooling on the porch behind hir.
"That would be because I didn't tell Raymond I was coming, either." Aarni drew in another drag. "Thought you'd both be out at this time of the day." If nothing else, Adrian liked to do little patrols. Not the best way of warding off attention, but hey, what did he know.
"Nice planning, except we're watching over a little experiment for a friend for a couple of days. It's sensitive enough that I agreed to stay home today to check up on it every now and then." Adrian glanced at his cigarette. "Give me one."
"An experiment, hmm? Nothing explosive, I hope. I like my bed." He tapped out another cigarette, offering it to Adrian. As the other placed it between hir lips, he reached to light it. "Raymond wouldn't approve."
"Raymond isn't here." Adrian shrugged. "Nothing explosive, no. Just a little potion that absolutely must not be overheated."
"Potion, eh? Must be the panda boy, then." No denial came forth. Confirmed, then.
"So, where on Earth have I been seen now?"
"I never said I faked being you this time." He didn't even bother to actually sound like he was denying it.
"Oh, shut up. You enjoy fooling them and you know it. I was just curious as to how far I've managed to get this time."
"Equador." Nice and warm. Yay for spring. "Mainly on the magical side, though I did do some tourist-y shopping on the regular side, too. Might have gotten into a little fight, too, so they'll definitely remember. The bastards will be combing through those clues for ages."
"I see." Adrian nodded. "I suppose I should thank you."
"You know, it would be much easier if you just changed your appearance a bit," Aarni pointed out. "The only reason you have to lie so low is because you're so damn easy to recognise. Who else will parade around with a yard of hair and a heirloom sword? Or just walk in and tell them to go screw themselves instead of waiting around for them to corner you in some dark alley. It's not like they can take a shot at you in front of everyone for doing nothing but existing."
"You would be surprised at the things the court can accomplish for very small slights." Adrian looked almost wistful, eyes directed off into the distance. "I refuse to change who and what I am. If they find me, then so be it, but I won't go out and invite their attention upon myself."
"Hey, it's your funeral. Just pointing out that father will cry, and I'm not very good at comforting people." To say the least.
"I'm not going to die, and Raymond won't have to cry, and you're better than you give yourself credit for."
"Oh, please." He snorted. "I'm an evil bastard through and through."
"You're a teddy bear. A very surly, occasionally violent teddy bear, but still."
"Please. The only reason I haven't become a full-blown criminal yet is that I don't want to give everyone the satisfaction of having been right about me all along. I'm a bastard, born and bred."
"Bred, maybe, but I doubt you were born that way. Your twin sure seems to have done well enough for himself as a good guy." See? Even Adrian agreed he was indeed a bastard.
"The only thing I have in common with that sissy is the basic instinct to claw each other's guts out." Aarni rolled his eyes. "How is the wuss, anyway?"
"Oh, Pyry's great. Nothing new, I don't think, except he finally got his long-distance license." Well, it'd taken him damn well long enough. How hard was it to stay out of sight, anyway? "As is Riku, by the way, since that's what you really wanted to know."
Aarni couldn't help but tense for a fraction of a second before relaxing, letting out a chuckle. "Why'd I care about the four-eyes?"
"I'm not blind, brat. I've known since the first time I saw you look at him." Adrian smirked a bit. "You like him."
"Of course I like him. I have to deal with him on a regular basis. If I didn't like him, he'd have been a dragon snack years ago." And again, he was tensing up. Damn his treacherous body.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Again that same damn smirk. "You like him. Like-like him, for the kindergartner in you. Are interested in him."
"Fuck off. I'd rather stick my dick in an electric fence than anywhere near him." Because he was oh so interested in rubbing his bits against anyone else. Not.
"Funny. I do not remember mentioning genitals at all." Oh, and now ze was playing innocent? Bastard. "Just because you don't want sex with him doesn't necessarily mean you don't want him. The two don't always line up. I should know, if anyone."
"I don't want him." He just wished he could have switched places with his brother, sometimes.
"I'm sure." Adrian paused for the duration of a few more drags of smoke. "So, how long has it been?"
"Not going to give up, are you?"
"Nuh-uh." Adrian gave him a smug smirk.
"Since I first laid eyes on him, more or less." He rolled his eyes. "Don't get all excited. Nothing's going to come from that."
"Oh?" Adrian raised hir eyebrows. "So you've been pining after him for years and you're not even going to let him know?"
"Hell no." He dropped the rest of the cigarette on the ground, smothering it with his heel. "Ice cube would hear sooner or later and freak out for no reason."
"He might like you, too."
"Don't be an idiot. Even a blind man would see how smitten he is with my brother, and the other way around. I may be a bastard, but I'm not evil enough to mess with that, nor stupid enough to think I'd ever stand a chance."
"You're selling yourself short again." Adrian snorted. "You're cute, Aarni, and for all that you do have your bad habits," to say the least, "you do have your good points as well. It's not impossible that someone might like you."
"Adrian, I get turned off by sex. I've been led to believe that such a thing is something of a hindrance to actually having it."
"If sex was required in every relationship, you'd have a single father."
"Oh, sure. Which is why it'd be such a brilliant idea for Riku to switch from his loving, cooking, caring, nice sexy boyfriend to a bitter, violent borderline psychopath who'd freak out at the mere idea of sex."
"You're not a psychopath and you know it." Adrian ruffled his hair, the bastard. How would ze like to have hir hair messed up? "So, what? You plan to just watch from the sidelines?"
"And make sure Pyry doesn't screw up too badly, yeah." Aarni sighed, getting up to his feet. "Riku's better off without me, either way. Anyone would be."
"Oh, omelette." Was that pity in hir voice?
"Don't start. It's not that big a deal." And really, it wasn't. He was perfectly content single and free. "Not like I'm burning up to find someone to hold hands with and cuddle in front of the fireplace with or whatever the hell dating couples do when they're not going at it like bunnies. Riku's the only one I've ever held any kind of interest for, and that doesn't mean I'm going to be devastated for not having him all to myself."
"Good to know you're at least happy, I guess."
"Oh, yes. I'm bloody well ecstatic." He patted Adrian's head, but did not ruffle. He knew better than to do that. "I'm going to raid the fridge. Anything in there that'll explode if I touch it, gotewld?" It sounded weird, dropping a dragon word in a normal sentence, but he couldn't resist.
"Nothing that I know of. The potion's in the study and Raymond will skin you alive if you touch it. And don't call me words I don't know, brat."
"Quit whining and look it up. It's spelt with 'fuck you', by the way," Aarni called over his shoulder as he walked inside. Adrian called after him, something snarky no doubt, about minding his language or taking off his shoes or something equally unimportant. Aarni paid no mind, heading to kitchen instead.
The kitchen smelled of toast and tea, the special blend Raymond always ordered from his friend in the Atlantic archipelago. The tablecloth was still just as faded, the tea stains having persisted through any kind of cleaning they had subjected the poor thing to over the years, and still Raymond always insisted putting it on when he came home since it'd been on the table when he had first arrived in the house. Meaning he'd had someone tip him off, the sneaky bastard. It was all familiar and old and boring, down to the shopping list on the fridge that had been almost identical when he'd left, and for the first time in days Aarni started to feel warm.
He heard the door being opened and closed, then Adrian's steps heading toward the study and probably the dictionary Raymond kept there. Meaning he had enough time to start up the coffee before Adrian came and hugged him or something equally sentimental.
Gotewld. Hatching parent. Not strictly correct, but at least it implied no gender. Because dragon families could be tricky and having non-binary family members was even trickier.
He might have been a cynical bastard, but nevertheless he found his lips twitching into something almost like a smile as he took out two cups.