“Tell me about your childhood,” I murmured. The events of my life felt like they were catching up with me all at once. My body settled, molded into the mattress, and the warmth of Doryu’s body seeped into mine. I blinked slowly, exhausted.
His eyes glazed over. “It’s been a very long time. There are things that fade away, as happens with any long life. Memories will pop out with smells and sights that call them to the front of my mind.”
“That happens with humans, too. Some have better memories than others.” I tucked my hands under my chin to watch him talk.
“My parents were toy designers. They met when they both went to work for the same toy company. They said it was love at first sight, and I can only remember them being happy. My memories of that time now are fuzzy, sort of washed in bright light. I don’t know what the right word is.”
“You probably mean idyllic.”
He shrugged. “It was a perfect time. Happiness was everywhere. I was very young, I’m sure they hid anything unpleasant from me. I know now that the war was ramping up, and the politics of our entire world were heated and violent.”
“I don’t know much about the war, can you tell me anything about it?”
“Some, yes. I was too young to fight, but Sárkány men and women are expected to fight. We went through combat training alongside the other classes like the politics class, math, and proper writing. I’m not sure what they’re called here, but classes to make sure you know how to speak, write, and read properly.”
“Language Arts,” I murmured.
He nodded. “Sounds right. We also had other arts, painting, and music. From what I can tell, our schools operated much like a private school here would. Many opportunities were given to students. Whatever career we wanted, we were given the opportunity to pursue it.”
I smiled, but didn’t speak. I wanted him to continue talking. His voice soothed me, and I was rapidly approaching the level of sleepiness that made talking difficult.
Luckily for me, he continued. “All the adults knew how to fight. It started small, with rallies. One side would protest the use of the portals to visit other lands,”
“Wait, other lands, plural?” I asked and raised my head. “Not just Earth?”
“Oh, no we visited many different places. Earth was the most frequent, as it was the closest lifestyle to our own, except the technology of the planet was far, far below our own.”
“I’m not sure that anyone here knows that. Do all of your own people know that?”
He gave me a blank look. “I assume they do. I’m not sure.”
“We need to address that tomorrow. If those portals took you to other lands, our people might have descendants there, too.”
“I have no idea how to reach another land though. Boudicca might know, but she was obsessed with Earth, since that’s where her family was.”
“Who is she?”
“The eldest of us all. She’s here on Earth somewhere, looking for her descendants.”
“For all we know, it could be me.”
“It could.”
Our conversation dwindled as we compared our childhoods. They had many similarities. Neither of us had siblings, and both had doting yet overbearing parents. We enjoyed several minutes of happy comparisons until…
“Then when I was thirteen, my parents were killed by a homemade bomb. They believed we should allow people to continue visiting Earth. As long as it was all voluntary, they saw no reason anyone should stop anyone else from living their lives the way they saw fit.” His voice was pained, shaky. “They were at a peaceful rally when someone from the opposition threw a homemade bomb into the crowd. It hit right in front of them. They were killed instantly.”
I pulled my hands out from under my chin and wrapped them around him the best I could and burrowed my head into the hollow of his throat. “I’m sorry,” I whispered and kissed his neck.
After that, conversation seemed superfluous. We lay in each other’s arms until I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke in nearly the same position I’d fallen asleep in, but turned the other way. I was still wrapped up in Doryu’s arms, still content and safe.
“Good morning,” he rumbled behind me. He moved his hips slightly, which alerted me to the enormous erection pressing into my butt cheek, which was nestled tightly against his body. “Ignore that,” he said as he shifted again, which made it pretty much impossible to ignore. “I’m not used to waking up with a round, warm bottom pressed against me.”
“Good morning,” I whispered. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well.”
“Me, too.” He rolled away from me, and I missed his warmth immediately. It was summer in the States and Ireland, but the Junta headquarters were in New Zealand, where it was the coldest time of their year. I hadn’t been bothered by the cold walking over from the main building, but in the night the apartment had cooled.
