He hadn’t done that in nearly two centuries.
“Ready to fly?” Doc said, clearing his throat. He gathered his clothes off the ground and tucked them into Marcie’s blanket.
“Y-yeah,” Ottis croaked. He was pliant when Doc scooped him into his arms, molding himself easily against the shape of Doc’s chest. “Mmm. So warm.”
Then Doc took to the sky, and Ottis was back to quietly whimpering.
24
DRAGON VS BABY
“Whose bright ideawas it to put wings on a dragon?” Ottis moaned, hugging the ground when Doc set him on the grassy lawn. “Ah, solid ground. How I’ve missed you!”
Doc snorted and shifted back into a man. “Just because you dislike flying, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to go without.”
He rummaged through Marcie’s wriggling blanket lump for his clothes.
Ottis’ heart skipped.Don’t look.
Doc was naked right now. Most importantly, his face was uncovered.
Ottis couldn’t help remembering the flash of mottled scar tissue, the deep ridges and whorls like the aerial view of a craggy canyon.
“Hey, give that back,” Doc rumbled.
“Wa buh goo,” Marcie said.
Doc huffed. “C’mon, give it. That’s mine.”
Ottis stiffened. Was Marcie refusing to release Doc’s clothes? Worse, were her little fists clenched around Doc’smask?“Marcie, hon, give it back to the nice man,” Ottis groaned into the grass. “You don’t want to get into trouble, do you?”
Some tiny thuds, like Marcie was kicking her feet.
Doc huffed quietly. “Apparently, my mask is worth getting into trouble for.”
“Oh gods.” Ottis cringed. “Of all the things she could steal... Here, let me.” He shielded his eyes with one hand and reached over with the other, trying to wriggle free the scrap of fabric.
Apparently, Marcie thought they were playing. She giggled and tugged harder on the mask’s fragile ear loop; Ottis had to release it so it wouldn’t snap.
“Hon,” he groaned, fumbling for a stuffed animal to distract her. Marcie ignored the fluffy duck’s squeaking, instead waving around Doc’s mask.
“This isn’t your fault,” Doc said with a small laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ll have Hijinks bring a spare.”
It was as though the butler had been waiting by the door for this moment. He burst out of the mansion and sprinted over, waving two things in the air. “Probe Master of the Butts and the Carts! Oh, Probe Master! I have gotten you a new face condom.”
With his hand still shielding his eyes, Ottis turned to look.
Hijinks held two different masks in the air. The first was a scrap of see-through lace shaped like a mask, and the other was made of opaque fabric, with words printed across the front of it.
“Did you make that out of a... bra?” Ottis blurted.
Hijinksbeamed.“Yes! Lace masks are all the rage these days. Movie princesses wear them.”
Doc sighed deeply. “I could just use a shirt.”
In Ottis’ limited field of vision, he saw Doc’s hands picking up the other pieces of his outfit, his bare feet stepping into his pants.
“Ah, but now your shirt is on your chest,” Hijinks said slyly.
