They got dressed, and Mercury just threw on anything that was there, no matter the color or the pattern. He just put on a tunic and a pair of soft pants and socks. He didn’t need shoes.
Talon could carry him if he needed to be on a wet floor or an icky floor.
“Aren’t you ready yet?”
Talon’s laughter shook him, as he scooped Mercury up. “I am ready yet.”
“Good.” Mercury pointed towards the door, and Talon started walking.
“Onward. Upward. Steaks, hamburgers, meatballs, roast, all the meat!”
“All the meat!” he cried out, echoing his beloved braaken.
He swore he could hear dragons laughing as they went, but the sound warmed him, let him know he was not alone.
They marched along, and by the time they got to the cafeteria, they had a little bit of a parade going. He recognized some of the dragons who had fallen in with them, and some of them he didn’t recognize, but Reno was there. And he thought maybe Lake and Boone were too.
Talon settled him at a table and was going to have something to drink that was not fizzy, because he wanted something not fizzy, not lemon and lime. He wanted iced tea or maybe some milk.
He rubbed his tummy because it was growling, and he thought it sounded like maybe a grumpy braaken he knew.
“It’s good to see you out and about, man.” Kami slid into a seat and across from him, baby in his arms. “I hear we’re having roast, hamburgers, and all sorts of other protein-y things.”
“We are.” He pumped his fist in the air, and there was a little cheer from everybody who had come to sit at the table with him.They’d left Talon a space next to him though which was really kind.
“Cool, although I have to admit, I’m kind of craving potatoes. Is it okay if I get a big batch of fries with some ranch? Is that going to bother you?”
He beamed at Kami. “Nothing is gonna bother me today. I can tell you that right now. Unless of course somebody decides to eat fish.”
A shout went up around the table. “No fish!”
“I feel supported.”
Kami’s grin widened even more. “You should. Everybody is here for you, man.”
A couple of the shifters who worked the night shift and support crew came by to smile at him. “Mercury, it’s good to see you out and about.”
“Thank you.” He could remember one of their names because she was a mink shifter, and he always thought that was fascinating—how a full-sized human body could shrink down to a mink size and not… Then again, a full-sized dragon like Talon shrinking down to a human-sized body was about the same thing, wasn’t it?
Still, he really liked her.
The other one he thought was maybe a marmot shifter. He couldn’t remember for sure. All he knew was that the poor guy had gotten in the way of a coyote shifter not too long ago and gotten himself gnawed on a little bit.
“Thank you, I’m glad to be out and about myself.”
A hamburger and onion rings landed in front of him, and Talon smiled at him. “They’re bringing the rest. I thought you could start with this.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Do you want some chicken nuggets too?”
“I like fried chicken.”
He dug in, so hungry that he could barely bear it, and he thought he heard Kami ask, “Is this going to make him sick if he eats so fast?”
Talon snorted. “Anemone said to feed him, I’m feeding him.”
He wasn’t going to be sick, because that little healer had opened something up inside of him and let it, the hurt, drain away a bit to make some room.
