“I’m scuba certified,” the woman says.“That means I love to spend time underwater, but I’m limited by the weight and timing of my heavy oxygen tank.And my name’s Candi.”She smirks.“My parents had a weird sense of humor.Apparently my mom gained a hundred pounds when she was pregnant with me—she ate candy nonstop.My grandma raised me after my parents died when I was ten.She died last year.”A tear rolls down her face.“I’ve been eating too much candy myself, because there was nothing that brought joy to my life.Until now.”She raises a hand toward Plumeria’s face.
And then I watch it happen.
I can’t see the light or whatever the dragons see.
But I watch Candi stiffen, and I watch her head fall backward.I watch the rapturous expression on her face as she squares her shoulders.“Thank you.”Now she’s crying in earnest.
The leaking of the humans is out of control, an earth blessed behind me mutters.
Human pain causes it often,Azar says.It’s a strange phenomenon.
“Crying,” I say.“You know it’s calledcrying.You lot could use a little crying yourselves.You’re like walking, talking, stone-hearted monsters.”
The dragons all laugh.As if we’d ever leak.Azar, especially, thinks it’s funny.
Now she must eat,Hyperion says.Let’s see whether this not-really-bright human can still keep us safe.
The other twenty-five semi-brights watch with rapt attention as their future’s decided.
How do you feel about fish?Plumeria smiles.
“I prefer it cooked.”Candi’s smile is a little concerned.
I can help with that.Hyperion’s getting funnier.
“I’m assuming she doesn’t want to eat a pile of ash,” I say.“How about I help with it?Candi can wait, though.The one who needs to eat right now is Plumeria.”
Do you want to come with me?Plumeria’s still just looking at Candi.
Hurry up, Hyperion bellows.This is taking forever.
“You’re such a bully.”I land beside Azar.“Haven’t you ever done anything important?The beginning is the slow part—you have to line up everything else.”
“I write books,” the tall man with big teeth says.“My outline takes me almost as long as writing the book.”
“See?”I point at him.“Listen to big teeth.The outline takes a while.Then the book just falls together.”
A book?Hyperion snorts.We’re not talking about humans’ boring little paper scribbles, Liz.That’s your issue.You get all distracted and confused, worrying about things that aren’t relevant.
In that moment, another water blessed opens its mouth and dumps four or five flopping fish on the riverbank beside Plumeria.I’ve always wondered how they taste,the deep, navy blue dragon says.It’s a male—fewer facial horns that are larger—but he’s still beautiful, even with the larger, less delicate face.He has strange sort of dangly flippers hanging off him around his face and legs, but they’re shiny and interesting.
I always have so many questions and not nearly enough time to ask them all.
The water blessed don’t come around me much, but maybe they will now, since I’m not bonded to the terrifying Azar anymore.I think they were scared of me before.It’s nice to have a friend amongst their group.
I’m hopingso hardfor Candi and Plumeria that I’m a nervous wreck as she approaches the flopping fish.
Should I eat them like this?Live?
“They’re better roasted,” Candi says.“But since you’re in a rush...sushi’s not bad.”
Sushi?Plumeria blinks.
“Humans sometimes take the gross parts out of the inside of fish and slice them into pieces,” I say.“Sometimes we add rice or other things, but we eat the fish raw.That’s Candi’s way of saying ‘bottoms up.’”
Bottoms up?
Just grab it with your mouth and swallow it,Azar says.
