Morning sunlight bit through sheer curtains, throwing warm streaks of light in a thin stripe over their covers and right into Ghreid’s godsdamned eyes! He rolled over, squinting away from it just as a hard weight came crashing down onto his legs, scrambling through his bed. “Fuck! Varis! There’s some sort of vermin in our bed!”
“Ghreid! It’s… Are they wyverns? No…” Varis scrambled back on the bed, and two chittering purrs of excited little dragons chirped about.
“They’re our nephews.” Ghreid’s heart warmed and settled as their covers mussed about, little ones—platinum scaled and golden-tinged amethyst wrestled about. Ghreid reached for the first one and held him up with a rumble from his dragon. The chittering noise made the hatchling yap and purr in response, the scales, a darker amethyst than last he saw. Bessam must have shed recently. The gold tinge at the edge of his scales glittered in the morning light. “This is my nephew Bessam, and the one rolling about is my niece Naxima.”
Varis reached out a tentative hand and offered his palm out for a sniff or lick as if the hatchling were a puppy. Ghreid raised a brow as Naxima lifted a paw and grabbed Varis’s fingers for a little shake. “Ra!”
“Oh. Right. They’re children…” Varis shook her paw back and sat down, legs crossed. “It is lovely to meet you, Naxima. You are a very pretty young girl.”
She preened and cooed before climbing over Varis’s lap. Some rather convoluted, garbled sounds and babble came from her little maw, and Varis pretended to listen with such enthusiasm. “Oh, really?”
She beamed, eyes squinted up with pride.
“Now, where’s your no-account parents? My mate needs to spend time with Asha!” Ghreid rose from his bed, nightclothes draped over his body. He might have been taking liberties with his new partner and the privacy a new estate afforded him, but Rydel had no compunctions waking him, and he’d threatened to quit if he had to see dragon penis in any state of firmness.
Ghreid showed Varis how to scoop the little one up. “Now, Naxima, careful claws. Varis is not a dragon. You can hurt him.”
The little one tilted her head, brows creased in confusion.
“But he will be one, I promise you.” Ghreid smiled, and Naxima rubbed her head into Varis’s chest.
“Do they speak?” Varis glanced between Bessam and Naxima curiously.
“No. They understand quite a bit, with generational memory and all, but it’s hazy. I recall my hatchling years, and words are moreamorphousthan they are now. Nebulous memories make things come into focus.”
“I see. I don’t remember my formative years.” Varis stared at the little one and followed Ghreid.
“Ashen are… I think the soul loses something when it hosts a human body. It’s a full fresh start. Probably why ashen are so much more fragile.” Ghreid glanced about as a picture of regality met his gaze, Rath standing tall and proud in his foyer, gold-chained horns on full display. Black sclera, as all dragons had, and blue eyes like ice and storms focused in on him. He had his tail out, an unusual for Rath.
“Brother. And… New brother. Varis? Pryd had many things to say about you.” Rath extended his hand and took Varis’s free arm, lifting it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “All positive.”
Varis gave a gentle incline of his head and a slight bow befitting Rath’s station. “King Mezerath, it is lovely to finally meet you.”
“Just Rath. You are my brother’s spouse. Our children will grow up together. We will eat at the same table. You will befriend my mate and family. You are brother to me.” Rath pulled Varis in for a long hug, stealing away with his child in the process in a graceful swoop of arms. “Welcome to our family.”
Rath stared Varis down, stepping back from him with a smile on his lips that barely ticked up at the edges, something their father had been an expert at—a smile that wasn’t.Approval.
Fates help their children.They’d always be vying for his approval and get it endlessly from Asha instead.
And his other six uncles…seven. Varis would be there, too. Maybe more if others found their mates.
“Brother, dear, carry Bessam off with me. Asha would adore spending time with your mate.” Rath gestured toward his bright-eyed better half.
In the seasons since the two had met, Asha’s draconic form had suited him well, all pearlescent scales shimmering at his edges, the pale white of it a stark contrast to his auburn hair that had slowly grown more flamelike from the roots. A few more haircuts in time, and the dusty-brownish red it had once been would be no more. His fading humanity would be all but a memory in time. Just like Varis.
Asha’s new eyes glittered, black sclera new, but the sapphire in them the same, brighter maybe. “New family!”
He whisked around, his tail flitting so expressively as he took Varis’s hands in a quick sweep. The tangle of adornments and chains in his horns jingled, little coins spaced amid them—a decoration no doubt favored by Rath. Ghreid rather liked it, too. “Varis, this is my brother-in-law, Asha. He is ashen, like you.”
“Asha the ashen…” Varis hummed, his grin growing wide as Asha’s matched his, teeth sharp and unruly. He truly hadn’t mastered all the fine touches of his form just yet.
“Dear. Focus.” Rath leaned over to give a peck of a kiss to Asha’s temple, and he wrinkled his nose as he took a deep breath.
His tail remained, but some of the scales along his face rescinded, his nails drew back from sharp points, and his teeth flattened all save for his prominent canines. The glow in his too-blue eyes settled to something less carnal. The baseline draconic form, human shape, just a trim of scales and horns—that was the norm. Ashen needed to focus more to keep it subtle.
Varis, coppery eyes focused, openly stared at Asha, expectation in his gaze.
“I’ve never met another ashen… I mean, I have, but they’re far older than me, when I do. Certainly not one who hasn’t—you know.” Asha gestured at himself anxiously before twisting his hands. “Do you… Do you know if you’re…”
