Dragon Dilemma

by Mell Eight

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Mercury knew to stand back and let the kits have at it. Fettuccini alfredo was a dish the kits had long ago memorized the recipe to and he was more than happy to supervise. Zinc and Alloy were in charge of the stove where a gigantic pot of boiling noodles bubbled away. A second, equally large pot was melting together the cream and butter for the sauce. The kits knew when to start adding the cheese to the cream and to stir the pasta so the noodles didn't stick.

  Lumie was slinking around the kitchen with his shoulders slumped unhappily. He was helping Chrome and Copper set the table as part of his reparations. 'Ron, Nickel, and Lumie had cleanup duty, which meant Lumie would probably still be working to make up for missing his chores for the next few days.

  "Don't forget the pepper," Mercury called when Zinc hesitated over the boiling pot of cream and cheese. She nodded and grabbed the peppermill to grind a lot of pepper into the mix.

  The oven beeped, so Mercury walked over to remove the crescent rolls and let them cool on the counter. He would have preferred homemade rolls, but the processed ones out of a cardboard can were pretty good and it was much easier to make four-dozen rolls that way.

  Mercury got out of the way quickly when Zinc and Alloy hurried to the sink to drain the pasta. The only safe place was the kitchen island, so Mercury sat on one of the stools. A gust of wind blew the large plastic bowl off the top shelf of the cabinet. It flew past Mercury's head and into Zinc's hands. She held it steady while Alloy dumped the pasta from the strainer into the bowl, then headed over to the stove to finish the sauce.

  "It's amazing how capable your kits are," William said softly as he sank onto a stool a few feet from Mercury. "It's unusual, I believe?"

  Mercury nodded, but a flash of alarm had him wondering just where William was going with the conversation. Too many people were overly enamored with the kits' powers and the last thing Mercury wanted was to have to fight off William to keep his kits safe.

  "It's taken years of setting out rules and ensuring they follow them," Mercury explained when William's continued stare demanded some sort of answer.

  "But how do you control them so well?" William asked sharply.

  There was something more to his question. Mercury thought he sensed a sort of desperation hidden in William's tone, as if his question wasn't just mere curiosity. It made Mercury want to answer, but he couldn't help still feeling cautious.

  "You can't control a dragon," he replied slowly, carefully watching William for his reaction. "They're free spirits that need the chance to explore and experience on their own. That's how they learn about the world around them and grow. Kits especially need that space. They get an idea in their heads and they need the chance to run with it until it explodes spectacularly in their faces."

  "But clearly you've managed to exert some sort of control over your dragon kits. They're cooking dinner like regular people, for god's sake."

  Mercury knew he wasn't imagining or misinterpreting the desperation in William's voice. He looked earnest, as if the answer was the most important thing he might learn that day.

  "Tell me about your own dragons and I'll see if I can help," Mercury said, guessing about William's motive. He wasn't wrong. William's shoulders slumped slightly and his mouth twisted with a mix of shame and consternation.

  "I have two of them. Just kits, maybe a little older than Lumie and Alloy," William began softly. Mercury leaned closer to hear, knowing that William wouldn't want to admit to whatever shame he had over his kits where anyone else might hear. "They were just playing in the river, but the water swelled to flooding proportions. They were threatening the dam and the village in the valley below. But they were so young! I scolded them instead of punishing them and then when I found out they were alone in the woods without a parent or anyone to take care of them, I took them home."

  "How many times have they flooded your house?" Mercury asked, knowing from his own kits' mishaps that William had no doubt had some problems with his.

  "Twice," William groaned. "And it would have been more if I hadn't caught them. They run away to play in the rain or the nearby lake. They terrorize my household, yet at the same time everyone that meets my kits falls in love with them.

  "I had to sedate them before I left," William continued sharply. His voice deepened as the shame he felt for his actions overcame the joy that had filled his voice just moments before. "I couldn't leave them alone without me there to stop their powers from getting out of control. It was my only damned option!"

  His voice rose almost to a shout, but it went unheard over the clatter of the kits as the finished fettuccini alfredo and the rolls were moved to serving bowls. Zinc was quickly throwing together a salad as the food and drinks were being transferred to the dining room. Mercury only had a few minutes to explain.

  "Dane and I needed to keep an almost constant watch on Alloy when he was just hatched because he couldn't control his powers. Don't feel bad that your kits are the same. What you have to understand is that you can't control or restrict dragon kits, especially young ones. They need to make messes in order to learn about themselves as dragons. Your house getting flooded was inevitable, to be honest. The difference between your kits flooding your house again and not flooding your house is a combination of bribery and consequences. You saw Lumie today. He shirked his chores and thought he could get away with it."

  William nodded. "I saw. I also saw him calmly accepting that he had to make up for missing his chores by helping the other kits with theirs, but I could never make my own kits do something they didn't want to do like that. Even if I could get them to do chores in the first place, they certainly wouldn't take on more responsibility if they failed the first time."

  "You missed the part about Lumie not getting dessert if he didn't help the other kits," Mercury explained. "That's where bribery comes in. Dragons are sugar fiends and I'm certain your kits are as fixated on candy as mine. When you go home and wake them from their sedation, I suggest you offer them a basket filled with as many different blue-colored candies as you can find. They'll fall in love with one candy in particular. Lumie loves cinnamon bombs and Nickel loves blue rock candy, for example. Once you know what their fixation is, you can use it as leverage. You'll get a piece of candy after dinner only if you clean your rooms. You made a mess—clean it up or you won't get your candy tonight. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

  "Obviously it works," William said, glancing at the parade of dragon kits heading eagerly towards the dining room. Dinner was ready.

  Mercury stood and waited for William to join him before following the kits.

  "It works. They're all going to graduate from high school, they accomplish their chores, and they sometimes even stop to think before they make a big mess. Not often, but enough that our house is still standing. If you want, you can bring your kits here. Meeting Nickel and seeing an older and controlled water-dragon kit might help ground them a bit."

  "I've never heard of a kit as calm and controlled as your Nickel," William admitted.

  "Nickel's a special case," Mercury replied, purposefully not explaining just what had happened to Nickel to make him so different. They didn't have time for the story at the moment and Mercury didn't know what William would do with the knowledge so he kept quiet. Still, it wouldn't hurt to let William know he wasn't alone. "There's a village in Dane's territory where a lot of young dragon kits live. There's a school and adult dragons to keep an eye on them. If Dane agrees and your kits are interested, they can visit."

  William looked pensive, but he nodded. "I'll think about it."

  They walked back into the dining room. Dane and Kendra were already there along with all the kits, sitting in the seats they had taken during lunch. Henri and Jessica had been regulated to the far end of the table and William went to join them while Mercury took his seat next to Dane. The various bowls were passed around and the room filled with the noisy sounds of kits eating.

  It didn't take long for the bowls a
nd plates to empty. The recipe was one Mercury had found in a cookbook when he was living on his own in Chicago and had embellished over the years. It was damned good and there were never any leftovers. It also didn't leave room for much dinner conversation since everyone's mouth was constantly full. That was probably for the best, Mercury knew. The kits didn't exactly understand delicacy and at this point William, Henri, and Jessica didn't need blunt inquiries into the mistakes that had led them to Dane's doorstep. Kendra wouldn't appreciate it either, but she seemed content with glaring at the way the kits were holding their forks.

  Pasta was hard to keep on a fork, so Mercury let the kits eat however they wanted for this particular meal. Some, like Nickel, had figured out that it was actually easier to eat neatly when he held the fork correctly, but Mercury had a feeling Chrome would still be eating with his hands for a few more years. Kendra's glaring certainly wasn't going to have any sort of effect on whether Chrome ate properly or not.

  The kits in charge of cleaning up hurried to collect the plates when everyone was finished eating.

  "Can I get anyone some coffee or tea?" Mercury asked. Dane was supposed to supervise cleanup—that was how they split their own chores—but Mercury volunteered himself so Dane could stay with their guests. Dane would make it up to him, probably in bed. Mercury was smiling to himself as he stood and reached for the bowl that had held the salad.

  "I doubt you have any real tea, considering what you served this afternoon," Kendra said with a dismissive sigh. "I suppose you can bring me whatever you have and I'll choose."

  "Decaf coffee for me, thanks," William said with a smile.

  "Same," Jessica added, and Henri nodded in agreement.

  Mercury picked up the bowl that had held the fettuccini and carried his two bowls into the kitchen behind his kits.

  'Ron was already at the sink rinsing dishes so Lumie could stack them in the dishwasher. Nickel was bringing the last of the dishes in from the dining room. Mercury stayed out of their way, instead going to the cabinet across the room where the newly discovered soup tureen was kept. Next to the tureen was a small teapot with a strainer inside for loose tea. Mercury rinsed it using the instant hot spout when 'Ron gave him a bit of space at the sink, then filled it with hot water. The teapot and one of their teacups with an unchipped saucer went onto a tray. Nickel saw what Mercury was doing and headed towards the cabinet where they kept their tea. With that taken care of, Mercury headed to the coffee maker.

  There were two varieties of loose tea, which Nickel added to the tray. At one point there had been more types, but Zinc liked to dump loose tea into her baths and had been slowly working her way through their stash. Nickel added a few different flavors of tea bags to the tray just in case.

  "Ask her if she wants cream or sugar," Mercury called as Nickel picked up the tray and headed to the dining room. Nickel nodded to show he'd heard as he walked off.

  The coffee maker was spitting happily by then, so Mercury got everything he needed to serve the coffee arranged on his tray.

  "She wants milk, not cream, and two lumps of sugar," Nickel told Mercury with a roll of his eyes as he strode back into the kitchen.

  Mercury rolled his eyes too. "She wouldn't accept anything less, I guess," he joked. They had a small pitcher that went with the personal teapot. Mercury rinsed it, then filled it with milk. There was also a bag of sugar lumps in the back of the pantry. Dane had no doubt purchased it the last time his mother had come to visit and the kits had somehow not noticed the sugar in the interim. Mercury found another saucer, placed two lumps on it, and added it all to the tray of mugs. Nickel took that tray back into the dining room.

  "The dishes are done," 'Ron said happily. The two pots that needed to be hand-washed were still on the stove, but that was Mercury or Dane's job tonight. He would get to it after dessert.

  "Go on and make sure our guests are entertained," Mercury said. "I'll be in once the coffee is ready."

  'Ron and Lumie ran off. Nickel stopped in briefly to return the tray, but the kitchen was otherwise blessedly empty and quiet. Moments like this were few and far between in their house and Mercury cherished every one. Still, he had five minutes to kill while the coffee dripped; he quickly washed the two pots and the baking sheets the rolls had been on. By the time those were dripping in the drying rack, the coffee was done. Mercury went to the top of the fridge where the candy basket was kept, pulled it down, then collected the coffee pot and headed to the dining room again.

  "Are you a horse?" Mercury heard Kendra's scathing voice ask as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

  "I'm not a horse, I'm a dragon!" 'Ron declared, sounding scandalized that someone could make that kind of mistake.

  "Well, only horses eat sugar lumps raw. Dragons may only have them in tea," Kendra finished.

  Mercury held back a smirk. It appeared Kendra had finally figured out 'Ron and was handling her at least a little better than before. He started pouring coffee while Kendra tested a sip of her tea under 'Ron's watchful eyes. Once everyone who wanted coffee had it, Mercury brandished the basket.

  The kits all sat up, eagerly staring at the basket. Mercury went to each of them one by one, letting them choose one candy from the stash. William was watching the process very closely as Mercury was hoping he would. Lumie hesitated for a moment over the basket, glancing up at Mercury to make sure it was okay.

  "You're trying very hard to make up for your mistake," Mercury told him gently. "You can have your candy tonight and if you keep working hard you'll get it tomorrow too."

  Lumie smiled, eagerly dug out a cinnamon bomb, and popped it into his mouth with a happy sigh.

  Once the kits had chosen, Mercury moved to their guests. Kendra declined, but the other three each took something. The rock candy came in packs of blue and green and Nickel only ate the blue ones, so both Dane and Mercury took a green rock candy for themselves.

  Silence again reigned as mouths were kept full. Candy was a serious subject for the kits, not to be debased with idle chatter or other distractions. Only once their mouths were empty again did they start talking. One glance at his watch told Mercury that he had better start getting them moving or they would keep chattering for hours.

  "Bath time," Mercury said sternly.

  The kits all froze in their seats and looked shifty eyed, Lumie and Copper especially. Zinc sighed and got to her feet. She caught Alloy's hand in hers and tugged him out of his chair and after her out the door. 'Ron hopped up after them, bopped Chrome on the head, and hurried off. That was two bathrooms taken; Zinc would help get Alloy scrubbed before taking her own shower while 'Ron used the other bathroom.

  Chrome yowled and dashed after 'Ron. There was a crashing sound in the kitchen, then thumping footsteps as they fought on their way up the stairs. Whether Chrome would actually get in the tub was doubtful, but at least 'Ron had coerced him into heading in the right direction.

  Lumie, Copper, and Nickel were the only kits left. Mercury knew that Nickel would get in a shower before bedtime without prompting. Instead, Mercury gave Lumie a look. Lumie, who already knew he was in the doghouse, sighed and wandered off in the direction of the door. Copper followed, but Mercury knew better than to believe that either of them would hurry into the bath.

  Dane didn't need Mercury's help keeping the other territory leaders in line. Being the less powerful person in their relationship was a fact that he had long ago come to terms with. He refused to relive that memory at the moment even though it was suddenly in the forefront of his mind—not in front of the territory leaders and not when the possibility of their bathrooms being flooded over their heads was imminent. Mercury resolutely pushed his thoughts about being second in power, but first in Dane's heart, aside as he stood, smiled politely to everyone, and followed his kits upstairs.

  Besides, Dane might be powerful, but Nickel was ruthless. Nickel would make sure nothing happened in the dining room that Dane hadn't engineered.

  Mercury thought he s
aw Kendra looking at him sharply with an almost thoughtful look on her face, but he didn't stop to double check as he pushed through the dining room door and entered the hallway. She could wait; his kits were much more important.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "Where do we start?" Dane asked everyone still sitting around the table. Mother calmly took another sip of tea, but he hadn't missed the way she had been looking at Mercury. Hopefully she wouldn't try playing with his memories, like she had with Dane. Although she had been surprisingly well behaved so far. Dane was waiting for the other shoe to drop and was honestly surprised it hadn't yet.

  "How did this misunderstanding happen?" William asked. "Jessica, you brought his actions to my attention."

  Jessica looked up from her mug of coffee and grimaced. "Only because Henri called me."

  "He blew up a warehouse inside my territory," Henri insisted. "I refuse to believe that his maps are telling the truth. You doctored them," he accused, turning towards Dane with a snarl.

  Dane didn't bother answering that. Anyone who had seen the maps he had shared knew they were real. The real question was how Henri had managed to misread his own maps and come to the conclusion that he needed to gather all the relevant territory leaders to stop Dane. William shot Henri a sharp look that said he should shut up before more of his stupidity showed. Henri shut up.

  There were only a few people powerful enough in the world to tell someone to shut up with just a look. William was one, Mother was another, and some did consider Dane to be on that list. Others, however, thought he was a pushover because he spent his days helping people via his supernatural consulting firm instead of ruling them. Henri wasn't anywhere near that list, but Dane thought he shut up because he was embarrassed to have been proven wrong and ignorant in front of an important audience.