Roommates

by Valerie Reyes

  It took about twenty minutes but he found a decent location and came back to Ralph. He was starting to feel pretty tired now, but they needed to grab firewood and then they could cook dinner and get to sleep.

  “I found a place, it’s about ten-minute walk. We can collect firewood along the way,

  “Sounds good,” Ralph replied, hopping to his feet and following Kayzer as he led that way back to the cave they would be staying for the night. On the way, Ralph picked up a few smaller logs and light kindling, but he kept that to a minimum of what they would need, because he didn’t have the energy to exert any more force that what was strictly necessary. He barely had enough energy for that alone.

  Once they were in the cave, Ralph set up a fire pit and got everything ready for a fire, but he didn't start it get. He wanted to make sure that they didn't waste any wood, so they would go hunting first.

  “Let's get ourselves meat before we start the fire, kay?” Ralph said.

  “Is there nothing left from yesterday’s hunt?” Kayzer asked as he put down the wood he collected and looked over at Ralph. He wasn’t sure if they had used all the meat for the lunch or not.

  “There's some, but we ate most of it at lunch and breakfast, along with what we ate on the trail. If you want, we could finish it off, but we'll have to hunt in the morning,” Ralph said. It might be the easier option just to defer the hunting until morning, considering they were both wrecked. Ralph didn't mind either way.

  “I’ll hunt in the morning. I need some rest. We can cook whatever we have left, and have some of the berries. That will do until sunrise,” Kayzer said, sitting down by the firepit and getting the fire going with his rocks. He was too weak to turn into a dragon for a simple fire, so this would do for now.

  “All right. That sounds good,” Ralph replied, and proceeded to get all of their stores food out and skewer it so they could put it over the fire. He took care of the cooking while letting Kayzer take a break. He certainly needed it, and cooking was easy enough anyways.

  Once he was done, he brought the food to Kayzer and sat down, starting to eat as well. “This tastes so good,” he remarked. After a day of nonstop travel, sitting down. For dinner was much appreciated. Kayzer didn’t say anything to response to that, as he wasn’t really up for talking. He just ate the food he was given, munching it down and finishing it off before going over to the fire and making a place for him to sleep. To start off with, he brushed the rocks and twigs away from the ground then curled up by the fire, resting his head against a moss covered rock and trying to relax as his muscles enjoyed their well-deserved rest.

  “What's wrong, Kay?” Ralph asked when he saw Kayzer making a bed for himself. That blew Ralph away a bit, though perhaps his naivety was to blame for that. Kayzer didn't mince words when he said how upset their one night stand had made them, but he wished that he could at least keep Kayzer from being antisocial and just being mad at him.

  “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just going to sleep,” Kayzer replied, as neutrally as he could manage. It would hurt too much to sleep too close to Ralph. Already Kayzer felt enough heartbreak, and if he just continued to try and get along with Ralph, and feel how he did before, it would only be more painful to let him go. didn’t want to feel any more pain, not like that.

  “I mean, you didn't say anything during the whole meal and you just go and make yourself a bit without another word. I don't want you to be mad at me, okay?” Ralph said softly.

  “I’m not mad. I’m just sad. I don’t like feeling like this,” Kayzer said, as he wasn’t mad at all. He was just upset that he had grown so fond of someone, and they were just going to leave his life as though they had never been in it to start with. It wasn’t any easy thing for someone like Kayzer to cope with.

  “I'm sorry. I wish that I knew what to do. I really don't though,” he said. He felt terribly that he had made Kayzer feel like this. He didn't mean any of this to happen from just a simple one night stand.

  “You don’t have to do anything, Ralph. It’s just easier if we don’t get along, it means we can just forget and move on, just like you wanted,” Kayzer said, as that was how he understood the situation, and also understood it was the best outcome as well seeing as there was just no way they could be together. It didn’t seem like a big deal to Ralph anyway. He and the other humans probably did this kind of stuff all the time. What did it matter? He could just find someone new when he went back to his human clan, and Kayzer would just have to forget.

  “But I don't just want to move on with my life and never think about you again. I really love spending this time with you, and even if we can't be together together, I want to remember you as a friend,” Ralph said softly, trying to get Kayzer to see that they didn't have to start early hating one another like this.

  Kayzer did listen to what Ralph had to say, and if he was honest with himself, he really didn’t know how to respond. He would have wanted to have stayed Ralph’s friend, but he didn’t know if he could stop caring for him like he did now. He wanted to stop caring, so it wouldn’t hurt, but there was only so much he could do about that.

  “We won’t really get to see each other though. How can we even be friends?”

  “Well, friends in memory. I don’t want us to dislike each other or anything. I want to have good memories of the time I’ve spent with you. I don’t want to think that I just spent a week making you absolutely miserable,” Ralph said. “Maybe I’m being selfish, though? I want us to get along, but if you dont want that, then I can’t force it,” he said with a sigh. Ralph didn’t know why this was such a big deal to Kayzer if he was honest, because he just thought that it was good fun, but Kayzer didn’t take it that way.

  “I don’t want us to dislike each other either. I care about you, but I feel like it’s just going to hurt more if I keep caring about you,” Kayzer explained, as he wasn’t used to these types of emotions or feelings. He was completely innocent up until their one night stand, though you could probably still call him innocent now.

  Ralph hadn’t thought about that, and he felt bad for putting Kayzer through this sort of emotional turmoil. He hadn’t meant to. It wasn’t his intention, but now they just had to find some way to persevere. Kayzer couldn’t help but sigh a little though, as he wasn’t sure if Ralph knew where he was coming from, so he would explain just so they were on the same page.

  “I don’t know how it works for humans, but we don’t just have sex for fun. It’s purely procreational, at least for my clan that’s how it works. When we pair, we usually pair for life, so this has just confused me. I am willing to put this behind me, as it’s probably best my parents don’t find out about it anyway, but I’d like it if I could maybe come down and see you. You said you lived on a farm. It wouldn’t be difficult for me to fly down there and stay for a little while before flying back home. I could even help with the work if you needed it. I’d just like to keep seeing you, is that too much to ask?”

  Ralph listened to what Kayzer had to say, but honestly it kind of blew him away that Kayzer’s kind only had sex for the purposes of procreation. How much willpower did a species have to have for that?

  Regardless of what Ralph thought about this oddity of the dragon clan that Kayzer came from, he did feel terrible for putting the poor guy through so much emotional turmoil. He didn't deserve that. “As long as you're careful, and no one sees you as a dragon you could come over to visit. I'll tell my ma something about who you are, and you can stay as long as you like. I don't want to be responsible for making your whole world topsy turvey,” Ralph said. His denying Kayzer would get him nowhere, and not serve any end. Though, he worried for Kayzer’s safety, he wouldn't be so cruel as to say no to his only request. Granted, Kayzer was actually surprised that Ralph said yes. It certainly perked him up and grabbed his attention as he looked over at his friend, rendered speechless for a moment.

  “You-You mean it?” Kayzer asked, stuttering a little as he was hit with a spot of anticipation for the answer
to come. He was honestly expecting Ralph to come up with an excuse, some sort of weird human thing where he would just stop Kayzer from seeing him, but it seemed he was actually willing to make something work between him. Maybe Ralph did care?

  “Of course. As long as you’re careful not to be caught by anyone, I don’t have any problems with you coming to visit. I’m just concerned something will happen to you and you’ll end up in another carnival like you did with Barnabus. But if that happens, I’ll just have to save you again,” Ralph said with a smile. To see how happy the permission to see him made Kayzer filled Ralph’s heart with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

  “I’ll be careful! I promise!” Kayzer replied, then soon got off his feet and went over to Ralph. He was completely unable to stop smiling as he just wrapped his arms around his friend and refused to let go. “I’m sorry for being such a grump with you today, I didn’t mean anything bad by it. We’re still good, aren’t we?”

  Ralph smiled, and when Kayzer came over to him, he just wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tightly to show there were no hard feelings. “Of course we’re still good. I’m happy as long as you are,” he replied, and clung fast to Kayzer so he couldn’t go anywhere just yet. Ralph wanted to hold him for a little while after spending the entire day not speaking to him at all nearly.

  “Thank you,” Kayzer whispered softly, sitting himself down as he snuggled into Ralph properly, resting his head against the man’s shoulder and just closing his eyes to savour the moment. Well, at least now he didn’t have to worry about sleeping on a cold hard floor, but he wasn’t too sure where he stood with Ralph. Would they still be engaging in the fun activities they explored yesterday? Or were they simply going to just be friends, without such physical contact? Maybe it was a matter left for the morning, as they were both exhausted from their travels.

  “Shall we get some sleep now?”

  “We can get to sleep if you want to,” Ralph said, running his fingers through Kayzer’s wild hair gently and playing with those long locks. In his mind, he was wondering where they would go from here. He was just as unsure as Kayzer was about where he should take their relationship. Would it be better for them to just be friends, or should they try instead to rekindle their relationship? That was just something that Ralph couldn’t answer for himself.

  There was just a yawn as Kayzer’s initial response. He was too tired for a long winded discussion; sleep was definitely the most important thing on his to do list. They just needed to set up the sleeping bag and go. So, Kayzer gave Ralph one last squeeze before parting from him and heading to the rucksack. He sifted through the items and got out the sleeping bag, unwrapping it and laying it out on the clear floor before stripping down and getting in, snuggling up inside as he turned his attention to Ralph.

  “You going to join me?”

  Ralph smiled at that and walked over to the sleeping bag, then he got himself cozy. Tomorrow they could talk about what their relationship was going to be like. Tonight, they sleep.

  “Night Kay,” Ralph said softly, and wrapped his arm around him without even giving it a second thought. Kayzer was certainly glad to have the cuddle. He was quick to just snuggle into Ralph’s chest and just close his eyes, embracing the warmth from the man’s body and just cherishing his presence as he slowly drifted to sleep.

  Chapter 5

  When morning broke, Ralph woke up and yawned, stretching a bit. Kayzer was snuggled up to him the whole night long, and he noticed that before he started to stretch, they were both cuddling. That made Ralph smile, but also question where exactly they were going with their relationship. It was something they needed to discuss, but not just yet. He would give Kayzer time to wake up, so for now he just played with Kayzer’s hair.

  It took Kayzer another hour to wake up, and when he did, he wasn’t in the best of moods. He felt ill, groggy and strange. When his eyelids eventually fluttered open, he just whined a little and snuggled into Ralph more, burying his head into the man’s chest and closing his eyes again.

  “Something wrong, Kay?” Ralph asked softly as he played with Kayzer’s hair. He figured that Kayzer just didn't sleep well, in which case he was going to try and comfort him and make things better.

  “I don’t feel very well,” Kayzer replied, groaning a little as he gave Ralph a squeeze.

  Ralph squeezed Kayzer back and felt his forehead. There was a bit of perspiration, but nothing significant. He didn’t feel too warm, though. “Are you hungry, maybe?”

  “I don’t know. It’s weird,” Kayzer said, sitting up a little and fidgeting a bit. He’d never felt so restless and nauseous, among other things. Something wasn’t right, but he knew fine rightly he wouldn’t be able to hunt for their breakfast this morning. “I think you will have to do the hunting today, I don’t feel up to it at all. Is that okay with you?”

  “That’s fine, Kayzer. I’ll figure out something. Just don’t expect a whole dear,” Ralph replied. He had brought a slingshot, and he was a pretty good shot with it honestly. So, he would be able to do the hunting this time, but he wouldn’t be nearly as fast as Kayzer.

  “By the way, when I get back, I want to talk about us, okay?” Ralph said, gently petting Kayzer’s arm.

  “If you’re getting rabbits, make sure you get a couple, there’s not much meat on them,” Kayzer managed a chuckle and a smile there, but he could really hold it for long due to the pain from his insides. “Yeah, sure. We’ll talk when you get back. I don’t foresee us moving anywhere when I’m like this so we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

  Ralph was really concerned about how much in pain Kayzer seemed to be, but he just nodded at Kayzer’s request. “I’ll get as much as I can. Will you be okay here on your own?”

  “I’ll still be alive when you get back,” Kayzer replied, as that was how much he knew for certain. He’d be fine so long as things didn’t get any worse, or so he believed anyway.

  “Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Ralph replied, leaving with his slingshot to get some food for himself and Kayzer. Although Kayzer didn’t want to be parted from Ralph, he knew it was best that he was alone. Something was wrong, and he was going to find out very soon what it was. The pain inside him was growing more and more, and he was forced the morph into his dragon state. A bellowing roar was released from his muzzle as he shook his head and stood up, but kept his head close to the floor. Kayzer had no idea what was wrong with his body, but it soon became clear.

  After an hour of agony, the pain was literally pushed out of him. He had dug his claws hard into the ground as two small objects were forced out of his system, and they dropped softly to the ground by his back paws. Kayzer was exhausted and out of breath, but he soon looked around and saw two small turquoise eggs lying by his tail. He didn’t know what to think, and he was too tired to question what he had just went through. So, he laid down, curling his tail around the eggs and relighting the fire with a quick burst of flame before closing his eyes and getting back to sleep. His body needed the rest after that. (no worries!)

  Ralph returned after a few hours with three rabbits and plenty of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. He had no idea what was going on back at the cave, but he brought all the food back so that they could sit and eat. What he wasn’t expecting was to see Kayzer in his dragon form, holding his eggs closely. Ralph didn’t know what to think when he saw that. He almost dropped the bounty that he had brought from the woods. Kayzer had two eggs! How had that even happened?

  “K-kayzer, are those eggs?” Ralph asked, the words nearly catching in his throat. The sound of Ralph’s voice startled the sleeping dragon for a moment, but when he raised his weary head he was able to look up and see Ralph and that made him feel a little more at ease.

  “Yeah, they're eggs. They aren't for eating though, okay?”

  “Well, I figured that. They’re blue, and huge!” Ralph said, taking a few steps closer to look at the eggs. He couldn’t help but wonder how they had gotten there. . . And if they were wha
t he thought they were. “Those . . . Those eggs aren’t ours, are they?” he asked.

  “They’re actually pretty small for dragon eggs,” Kayzer replied as he turned his head round to them. They certainly came out a lot quicker than normal dragon eggs, and much smaller. Must have been the mixture of human DNA that sped things up a bit. Granted, what Ralph said next confused Kayzer a little. Whose eggs would they be if they weren’t theirs?

  “Well, I am the only dragon around here. Who do you think laid them?” Kayzer said, curling his tail around them a little more and inspecting them for a moment. He didn’t get the chance to properly look at them earlier, but now he could. “It’s why I was so ill earlier. My body knew they were coming before I did.”

  Ralph really didn’t know what to do or say at this point. He had babies with Kayzer? Granted, they weren’t hatched yet, but he did have babies with him! What were they going to do now? They weren’t prepared for parenthood, or at least Ralph knew that he certainly wasn’t prepared.

  “Okay, well,” he began, then bit his lip in hesitation. “Where do we even go from here?” he asked. He had no idea what they should do. Kayzer was going to stay with his tribe still, Ralph supposed, but he didn’t want to separate from his children. Then again, it wouldn’t be very safe to bring some hatchlings back to the farm. What would his mother and father think, after all?

  “I don’t know. I’ll need some rest for a day or so. The eggs will need to be kept warm. It’s safer for them to be in one place but we can’t exactly do that out here on our own. Not unless we made ourselves a safe nest with adequate food and water supplies,” Kayzer said, though honestly he wasn’t sure what it meant for them, as a couple or for their future. He was taking it one step at a time right now, mainly because he didn’t know what the tribe would think, or the humans. He didn’t know if they would be welcome anywhere.

  “How would we even make a nest? And where could we secure food?” Ralph asked. He was okay with hunting for his dinner for a short while, but he was no expert. The fact that he had brought back enough food to get them through the day was a miracle in and of itself, so he didn’t want to give Kayzer any illusions that he would consistently be able to feed them. Let alone now with the two babies on the way.