by Kayla Wolf
Alexander set about collecting dry leaves and twigs that had blown in through a broken window over the years, and Lisa realized that he was lighting a fire in the little fireplace in the center of the living room. She wanted to make a joke about dragon breath, then worried it would be true. Thankfully, it was matches he used to get the fire going – there had been a box left on the mantelpiece. Lisa was grateful. She wasn't sure she could handle fire breathing.
By the flickering firelight, they were able to examine the room a little more closely and discovered a number of pieces of furniture, all covered by thick white cloths and a lot of dust. Lisa pulled one of the cloths from an old table, coughing at the dust it set up, and dragged it closer to the fire. A little awkwardly, she folded the top of the sheet over a few times to make a kind of rolled-up pillow for their heads.
“Not the most comfortable bed I've ever made,” she admitted, settling to her knees on the sheet, “but it'll do.”
“I will happily sleep elsewhere,” Alexander said formally, rising to his feet – she reached out and caught his hand.
“Don't be silly. You'll freeze to death if you try to sleep away from the fire.”
“Dragons do not get cold,” he replied with dignity.
“Is that why you're shivering? Is that why you've turned blue? Your dragon body might not get cold, but you're a human now, and I'm not letting you freeze to death because you're too dumb to keep yourself warm.”
“I am always a dragon,” Alexander muttered.
“Well, you'll be a dead dragon if you don't sleep here. Come on.”
Reluctantly, he settled down on the very edge of the sheet – furthest from the fire – and stiffly laid himself down with his head rested on the bedroll. Lisa lay down too, dragging the other end of the sheet up from the end and draping it over them both like a dusty burrito. She didn't miss the careful way he tucked the sheet in around himself, either. Dragons don't get cold, her ass.
“So you don't talk?”
“Hmm?”
“Dragons,” she said, staring at the firelight flickering on the ceiling. “You don't talk out loud. You do that – telepathic thing? That was you?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you talk so weird?”
Alexander huffed laughter – an unusual sound from him, and unexpected. She felt a grin spread over her face in the dark, and immediately reined it in. Don't be dumb, Lisa. He's not interested in you, remember? He's on some quest to find some magical curse-breaking princess, or whatever.
They'd have to have a talk, at some point, about what it meant that they'd had sex. She was hardly the kind of person who thought sex was some kind of sacred, unbreakable bond, of course – but it certainly had stirred up a few feelings she thought she was well past, as a person. And she didn't know what it had meant to him, either. They'd need to get the nature of their relationship straight if they were going to work together. But it was okay. This was all okay. This was work she was ready for – she was a professional Handler of Feelings, a career girl when it came to analyzing what sex did or did not mean. They'd talk it out in the morning, and she'd get started on getting rid of the feelings she had. They were mostly physical, anyway – and who could blame her, looking at him? Even covered in twigs and dirt from their trek through the forest, he was gorgeous. She snuck a glance at his profile in the firelight and caught her breath at the way the light glowed on his burnished skin, the effortlessly beautiful way his dark curls fell across his forehead and cascaded down to pool on the sheet below his head. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Lisa, he's a hot guy, you've seen those before. Get a grip.
“Your people do not speak telepathically,” Alexander said after a long silence, startling her.
“No.”
“Then how do you know what others feel?”
“Uh. Good question.” She hesitated. “Tone of voice, facial expression... the usual stuff. What do you guys use?”
“Thoughts.” His voice sounded heavy as lead. “It is simply a part of communication. I suppose the same way facial expressions are a part of yours.”
“Sounds easier than our system.” She blinked. “Does that mean you can read my mind?”
He laughed again. “No. Humans cannot speak the way we do.”
“Well, has one ever tried?”
A telling silence. Interesting. But before she could ask too many more questions about telepathic communication, she found herself claimed by a wave of exhaustion that rose up like a wave and drowned out all conscious thought.
Chapter 15 – Alexander
When Alexander woke, it was to the gentle warmth of sunlight on his face. He stirred a little, still drowsy – but the aches and pains in his body woke him up quickly, as did the memories of the previous evening. The fight at Lisa's apartment. Their stranding in the middle of the woods. Lisa's offer to help him, despite how poorly he'd treated her, despite how rude and disrespectful and generally obstinate he had been – she was a special human, that was for sure. He opened one eye to look for her – and found the sheet next to him empty.
Alexander sat up, gingerly stretching his aching body – it seemed rapid fire transformations and sleeping on a hardwood floor wasn't a great combination. At least the scratches and grazes from walking through the woods were mostly healed.
His self-inspection was interrupted by the squeak of a rusty door hinge – and there was Lisa, her arms full of fabric and an excited smile on her face that he couldn't help but echo a little. Something about her looking happy made him feel happy. Curious.
“This place is great! There's a chest of drawers in the other room that still has a bunch of leftover clothes in it. I guess who ever lived here last didn't want them? They're a bit musty, but they probably beat what you're wearing.”
Alexander glanced down at himself. Clothes were a good idea, certainly. And the pile she had found was excellent. There was a pair of jeans that almost fit perfectly, but for being a little long in the leg – Lisa remarked that some kind of 'supergiant lumberjack' must have owned this cottage. Along with the jeans were several plaid shirts and even a hardy jacket made out of leather. Not as hardy as his scales, of course, but it would do.
Lisa kept her track pants on but had taken one of the plaid shirts for herself. Alexander knew humans were very interested in the kind of clothing they wore – it had aesthetic connotations that were of cultural and social significance, Helena had told him, and many humans even dedicated their lives to creating them. Looking at Lisa in the oversized red checked shirt, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, Alexander thought she looked incredibly cute.
“There's still running water,” Lisa was saying, gesturing towards the kitchen. “No power, which is fair enough, but we can cook on the fire if we grab some food. I used to be a Scout,” she added, as though that ought to mean something to him. “We can stay here until we find your lady! The wolves won't come this far out, right?”
“I do not think so,” he said thoughtfully, a little taken aback by how much thought she had put into this – and feeling guilty for sleeping as long as he had, when she had been up and establishing their new base of operations. “I am not sure of the limits of their territory, but it will take them a long time to find us, at least.”
“Good.” Lisa dusted her hands off, looking satisfied. “Hey, try these.” She tossed a pair of boots at him – old and worn, but serviceable. As he pulled them onto his feet, she continued to speak. “We'll need food, I think. If you're rested enough to shift, we can fly back to New York and grab some groceries? I'd also like to grab my laptop from my office. I've got some powerpacks from when the wiring in the building was shot, and a wireless dongle for WiFi, so I should be able to set up a pretty decent little office here.”
“Office?”
“To find your lady! I've got a database of eligible single women in New York,” she rattled on, eyes bright. “And I can't imagine any of them objecting to going on a date with a gorgeous guy like you. So I'll take a few photos, we
'll come up with a backstory about who you are, send you on some dates and – hope destiny or whatever does the rest.”
“Lisa.”
“At least this way you can start eliminating some possibilities. There's what, three and a half billion women in the world? How long do dragons live? You'll find her eventually.” She sighed. “I know it's not the best plan ever, but —”
“Lisa, it's a fantastic plan. You are fantastic.” Impulsively – he'd seen humans do this a few times now, but it still felt very strange – he rose to his feet and closed the space between them, taking her into his arms and squeezing her body to his. “Thank you,” he murmured into her ear. “For helping me.”
She hugged him back, and when she looked up at him, there was a sudden silence between them. It almost felt like a spark, some kind of heat, though the fire was long dead. He'd felt it before – the night before, in the apartment, when she'd come home, and he'd taken her into his arms and —
But Lisa was stepping away from him, clearing her throat, and the expression on her face was impossible to read. Frustrating. If he were in his other body, he'd be able to tell what she was feeling... but he suspected that there was something unethical about that, somehow. Was it really fair to know what she was feeling when she couldn't do the same?
“Let's go,” she said carefully, smiling at him though there was a distant look in her eyes he couldn't figure out and didn't much like. “I'm starving.”
They left the door to the cabin shut. It was unsurprising that it hadn't been broken into before them – from the outside, it looked far more run-down and ramshackle than the interior actually was. A good find, Alexander thought, carefully scuffing dust on the porch to disguise their footsteps. They could lie low here for a long time. He wasn't entirely sure the wolves would track them this far – there was considerable bad blood between his people and Jax's, and they were known for their tracking abilities – but at least out here there was enough space for him to transform if he needed to. They had been formidable in the tiny apartment, yes, but let the wolves try and take down a full-sized dragon.
The night of sleep had helped, hard floor notwithstanding. Alexander spread his wings once he'd changed, beat them once to send a gust of wind to stir up the dust around Lisa's feet – she'd chosen to turn away when he changed this time. For modesty, or something – it had never been a consideration for him, but humans were strange creatures, he was learning. Or at least, this one was. She had had the good sense to insist he remove his clothing first, and packed it carefully into a bag she now wore slung over her shoulder.
He hesitated, peering down at her (she was so small, he thought, thinking for no reason of the wolves bursting through the door of her apartment and threatening her life.) It felt a little odd to simply pick her up in his talons again.
“I have an idea!” she called up to him. Much less fear and anger in her bearing this time, he noticed, listening in just a little. “Crouch down!”
Crouch down?
“Just – just lie down! On your belly! Like a big sparkly cat!”
I am the King of all dragons, Alexander thought to himself, ruffled – but for some reason, he didn't extend the thought loud enough for her to hear. With as much dignity as he could muster, he flattened his body, extended his sinuous neck along the ground until his great head was beside her tiny human form.
She traced a single fingertip along the metallic scales on his nose, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
“I'm going to sit on your neck if that's okay? You have sort of – spikes I can hang on to. Is that fine?”
You are going to ride me. Like a horse.
“Don't make it weird, dude.”
I am not making it weird. It is weird.
“Weirder than you just carrying me in your claws like a sack of flour?”
He huffed and rolled his eyes away from her, and with a smug little sound of triumph, she bounced over to his shoulder. He felt her grab hold of one of the spines along his neck and swing aboard his neck, a few feet ahead of the base of his wing joint. It was surprisingly comfortable – not that he'd be telling her that. And it was a much more graceful takeoff when he could use his forelegs.
There is a large building with construction at its top. I will land there, where I am least likely to be seen. You will emerge and retrieve food and whatever is needed from your apartment and office. Agreed?
She shouted something, but the wind whipped it away.
It is a shame humans cannot speak telepathically.
– big dumb dragon – hey!
Alexander blinked his golden eyes in surprise. That had certainly been her voice, albeit loud and a little distorted – like a child's voice. Not that there had been dragon children for a very long time.
... I can do it! You said humans couldn't! Score one for humans! Score nothing for dragons!
I am happy for you.
Anyway! Are you sure nobody will see you?
If anyone sees me, they will not believe what they saw. And I will be fast.
This is pretty cool! I can't believe you can hear me! You can't hear my thoughts all the time, right?
Only the ones that you choose to project. And only in this form.
Great!
Alexander made a quiet note to give a little more thought to the palpable relief that was emanating from her psychic presence once they had safely landed in the city.
And land safely they did, thanks to a great deal of cloud cover and the convenience of the abandoned construction site atop one of the enormous buildings. If any citizen of New York saw a huge winged shape descend from the clouds and wing its way down to perch on the scaffolded roof of a skyscraper, they certainly didn't say anything about it to anyone.
Alexander had intended to remain on the roof in his favored form, but Lisa punched him on the scale-armored shoulder and refused to take another step without him.
“I'm not running errands for you, scaly. We're a team,” she threatened.
That is a very offensive term, and I would appreciate you not using it.
“Oh. I didn't realize. I'm sorry.”
Alexander opened and closed his human jaw a few times, his transformation complete. Lisa tossed him the bag she'd been carrying, and he dressed quickly, aware of the way she stared politely in the opposite direction. Strange, really, to avoid looking at his naked form when she had earlier seen him as naked as he could possibly be. “It is alright. You did not know. Now, let's go. I am hungry.”
“No wonder you talk so strangely,” Lisa was saying under her breath as they zipped down a few flights of stairs then stepped smoothly into the elevator of the building as though they did this every day. “Telepathy is much easier.”
“It is.”
“Are you super impressed that I can do it? Hmm? Or are you mad? Are you mad that something you thought was a big important dragon secret was actually super easy for a human to learn without any help at all?”
“Of course not. I am pleased that we can communicate while in flight. Well. While I am in flight, and you are sitting on my back. Because you cannot fly.”
“Oh, I see. Now you're better than me just because you can fly. I'll get a jetpack,” Lisa threatened as they stepped out onto the street below. “You watch me.”
Lisa took him by the arm and led him down busy streets towards her office. They had decided against returning to her apartment in case any of Jax's men were staking it out still – it was enough of a risk to return to the same neighborhood, though he didn't mention that to her. Thankfully, everything Lisa said they needed was in the office. She scooped a flat rectangle, a small white oblong, several larger dark oblongs and a collection of wires into her arms, then wedged them into the backpack she had found in the house. It was full of pockets and compartments, and surprisingly spacious. She also collected a piece of flat plastic from a drawer – he recognized it as a credit card, much like the one Helena had organized for him.
“It's my work one, but it'll
do for now. This counts as an emergency, right?”
Next, they stopped at a local grocery store. Alexander followed Lisa around the store as she selected a range of products that were suited to the house, many of them in cans and tins – she made exasperated comments about the lack of a fridge. Refrigeration was a new concept to Alexander, but he decided against saying anything about it. She had a way of making him feel antiquated.
“Done. Let's get out of here. And remind me to cancel my appointments for the next week once we're back home, yeah?” He saw her falter a little, and a blush crept into her face, tinging it a pretty shade of pink. “Not home. Home base. You know what I mean!”
“Yes,” Alexander lied, gazing at her in the afternoon sunlight. “I understand you completely.”
Chapter 16 – Lisa
Well, it seemed that dragons were real. The more time passed, the more Lisa found herself having to accept that this wasn't a psychotic break, or an extended drug trip, or some kind of bizarre dream. There were simply no other inconsistencies in her world. Just a tall, handsome stranger who could shapeshift into an enormous winged lizard and was in pursuit of a destiny of great importance for his family, or his people, or something. This was happening to her, like it or not.
And if she stopped moving or planning for longer than five minutes she was a little worried she was going to lose her entire goddamn mind, so Lisa was embracing the strategy of leaning in.
At least they'd figured out a more comfortable way of flying together. She hadn't much liked the first trip, clutched in his dragon form's talons (it was still strange to think of the huge scaled lizard as Alexander – much easier to think of it as a disguise he put on, though she knew it was technically his preferred shaped.) But sitting on the back of the dragon's neck, that was – well, if not comfortable, at least more bearable. It made her feel a little more in control, like riding a horse – not that she would presume to try to steer him. Though the thought made her giggle a little. Maybe she could make him up a set of reins. Would he find that funny? She knew he had a sense of humor, but it was hard to get a handle on what made him laugh, and what made him do that blank 'expression loading' face she was getting so used to.