“Have you not been on social media lately? Or like, at all?People. Want. Dragons.People who ride dragons fucking other people who ride dragons. Dragons fucking dragons. People fucking dr?—”
“Fucking hell,” he runs his hand across his mouth.
“Is that a yes?”
“He could eat you. When he’s in the drivers seat, I don’t have much of a say.” His eyes flash, and I grin.
“He just argued with you, didn’t he?”
“This isn’t fair. I’m being ganged up on.”
“Dragon-Ramsey, do you solemnly swear not to eat me?”
His eyes flash, and then his pupils start to waver into slits. “Cross my heart.” I squeal loud enough to startle whoever’s in the kitchen, if the crash of metal pans from the back is any indication.
“Can we do it now?”
“I thought you wanted me to show you some dirty fighting tricks?”
“Don’t take this from me.”
He rolls his eyes, finishes his drink, and gathers his tray. “Fine, let’s go,” he mutters. “If he barbecues you, you’re not allowed to?—”
“Yeah, yeah, no haunting, whatever,” I flap my hand. “Where do we go?”
He opens the door of the Great Hall and yanks the hood of his sweatshirt over my head, covering my eyes. “There’s a field out by the Training Center I usually go to. Not as many trees to burn down if he’s pissy. Which is often.”
“You’re not talking me out of this,” I deadpan, and he sighs. Some of the paths through campus are still covered in snow and he clears them easily with his magic. The whole time, I badger him about his powers, because even though I went through an elemental rotation for fire a couple months ago, I spent most of my time trying not to get my ass burnt to a crisp. Thanks to his magical snow blowing, it’s not long before we arrive at the field.
“Now what?” I ask eagerly.
He looks at me and sighs. “Youreallywant?—”
“Oh myGod. For the hundredth time, yes I really want to see the dragon. Pretty please.”
“Alright.” He reaches behind his head and pulls off his shirt with one arm, and I’m so caught off guard at the realization he’s been hidingthatunder his shirt the whole time I don’t realize he’s unbuttoning his pants until I see the barest hint of pubic hair.
I turn around to give him at least the illusion of privacy. “If you lured me out here just to get naked, we’re going to have a problem.”
He laughs. “My clothes don’t shift when I do. If you don’t want me to be naked after, I have to get naked now.”
“Alright just… tell me when. Or something.”
Don’t look. Do not look. You arenotgoing to peek on your friend while he’s naked. Emphasis onfriend. I recognize the sound of his wings snapping open like Samhain. I hear the groans of discomfort and pain, and grimace because I forgot about that part. It can’t be longer than a couple minutes until the noises coming from behind me change. Deeper. Bigger. Much, much bigger. Giant footsteps crush the snow beneath our feet and my back is engulfed with heat.
“Is that the sign? Are you done?” A rumbling comes from behind me, and gasp in shock and awe as my brain glitches, because seeing really is believing. And what I’m seeing shouldn’t be possible.The black dragon’s head is as tall as I am, making his green eyes level with mine. Massive horns of various lengths and thickness flare out of his skull like an ornate crest. A spiked, webbed frill runs along the back of his neck, and the wings on his back are fuckingenormous. His four legs are twice the size of me, and when he shifts I notice a spiked tail that’s long enough to curl around his entire body.
He tilts his head to peer at me, and I burst into hysterical giggles.
“This cannot be real. I’m hallucinating.”
The dragon huffs, and a rumble emanates from his chest that reminds me of a jet engine. Is he?—
“Are youlaughingat me?” I ask incredulously. The beast only blinks in response, revealing a third eyelid before shaking his head lightly and yawning to show me teeth longer than my arm.
“Yes, yes, very impressive.” I grin. He snaps his jaw, startling me as I jump back.“Oh he’s got jokes, huh?” and that roaring engine sound comes from his throat again as he edges closer, sniffing me and chuffing. “I promise you, I’m not going to taste good. Too stringy. You’d be better off with a nice fat… deer or something.” I gesture vaguely towards the woods. He ignores me and continues to inhale deeply, until finally pulling his snout back and running his tongue across his lips.
“I don’t know what Ramsey’s talking about, you’re hilarious.” He straightens to his full height and extends his wings out from behind his back, blocking out the sun. When he drops back down to his forelegs, his head snakes around me until I’m surrounded by the thick muscle of his neck, watching as the webbed spines flex up and down.
