Written for Day 30 of Sheith Month: Feline.
Taken perhaps a little loosely (more than anticipated, but this also grew more than I anticipated) but my dragons are generally rather feline and that was the start of this idea. (Which I only just finished writing, so has been only cursorily proofread.)
Shiro was lounging on his side across damp rock, fingertips trailing in a pool that mingled ocean and the freshwater from the spring, when Lance suddenly let out a shrieking cry. It wasn't immediately concerning - Shiro had known Lance for years, and he got . . . overexcited sometimes.
Still, he pushed himself up with one arm and looked over towards his friend. Lance gesticulated wildly and pointed upwards. "We need to leave!" he yelped, pushing himself off the higher promontory he had hauled himself up to for cloud-watching, and Shiro looked up. He stilled, eyes widening.
There was a dragon high in the air above them, dark and huge.
"Shiro!" Lance hissed, echoed by a quiet splash. Shiro looked over and found his friend half in the sea, tail thrashing. "Shiro, come on, it is going to eat us!"
Shiro blinked, tailfin flicking absently. Lance beckoned, and he glanced back up to see that the dragon had circled back, was not merely flying across to wherever dragons went.
Shiro shifted, trying to get a better look at it, and moved the barest bit back towards the ocean, but. . .
"Fine, it's going to eat you." Lance sounded slightly hysterical. He could be kind of high strung, especially without his best friend's steady presence to ground him. Shiro flapped a hand at him vaguely, still sort of intending to head back to the water but distracted by watching the dragon's flight.
He was surprised when it tumbled in midair, wings snapping out wide again almost instantly and carrying it in a lazy-looking spiral.
Then the spiral twisted it back, flying lower, and Shiro's eyes widened. He ducked his head, not fleeing but sheltering against a large rock as the dragon headed straight for the rocky outcropping Shiro still rested upon.
Shiro watched with interest as the great creature backwinged down to land with a quiet scrape of claws on rock. It was huge, and seemed even more so as it stretched out its wings with a languid arch of its back, the sun glowing through the thin skin in brilliant red shades that lit up the water below. Lance had probably been right - the dragon looked quite big enough to easily eat a mer, possibly more than one at a meal.
Then the wings folded away, sleek along a slender, sinuous body, and the dragon moved forwards, light and quick. Shiro startled, fins curling with nerves, but the dragon wasn't coming his way or even looking in his direction. The long, graceful neck bowed and Shiro shifted, peeking over a jaggedly upthrust rock to see the narrow face dip down to the freshwater pool near the centre of the rocky formation, lapping delicately at the water.
There was a fluffy, spiky crest of fur that waved like an anemone all the way down its spine from the crown of its head to the tufted tip of its long tail, which curled in a lazy sweep back and forth as it drank.
Shiro had seen dragons before, if only far above in the sky, and he had always thought they would be like the lizards that dove and swam off the coast of the islands, only perhaps a little like seabirds, with their flight. The dragon lifted his head, tilting it to one side, its wickedly-curved black horns glinting in the light and its ears twisting. The creature before him wasn't like a lizard and it wasn't even like a bird; it made Shiro think of the cats that roamed human ships.
It turned its narrow head and Shiro stilled, staring. One great eye was within sight now, a brilliant shade of red at the centre, around the pupil, shading outwards to violet.
"Hello fishytail." the dragon greeted in a deep, rumbling voice that was still softer than Shiro would have expected.
Shiro hadn't even been entirely sure dragons could speak, though some of the legends he had heard - told between mers, passed down from other creatures that ventured into the sky or on land, overheard from humans - suggested it.
"I- Hello." Shiro pushed himself up a little more, waving with his left hand. The dragon brought his head closer to Shiro, though his body barely moved. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, ah, disturb you?" Shiro said uncertainly.
The dragon huffed, and Shiro tensed before realising it was a laugh. "You aren't bothering me, fishytail." he said in his low rumble, resting his jaw on the rock Shiro had hidden behind and peering down at him. "What are you doing here alone?"
"Ah." Shiro paused. "It is a good place, for sunning or watching the clouds, and the pools are interesting. Different from down below." He gestured with a flick of his tail, a gesture which didn't work quite so smoothly out of the water. ". . .and I wasn't alone, but my friend left. I'm not alone now, either, am I?" he added boldly.
The dragon tilted his head, eyeing Shiro, then smiled, showing just a hint of the wicked fangs that filled his long jaw. "I suppose you are not, brave little fishytail."
"I'm Shiro." Shiro said, not entirely sure how to feel about the dragon's name for him.
The dragon's body shifted, twisting towards Shiro and moving a little further away from the pool he had drunk from, then settling down, talons curling in close to his body and wings settling around his legs. "I am called Keith." he said, looping his neck around the rock rather than over and letting his head come to rest on the ground near Shiro's tail.
His muzzle was at least half as long as Shiro's tail, maybe longer. Certainly if he wished to he could eat a mer, but . . . he didn't seem to have any desire to do so. He looked almost sleepy, lounging on the rock with his flame-bright eyes half-lidded but still focused curiously on Shiro. He moved, and the sharp gaze fell to the gleaming twined metal-and-bone construction that had taken over his right arm, but Keith didn't stir, attention returning to Shiro's face.
"I've . . . never spoken to a dragon before." Shiro said, shifting a little closer. "We see them sometimes, but none ever seem to come down . . . unless they are going after human ships." He shivered. He had seen an enraged dragon, all pink and purple scales and a deceptively delicate build not unlike some of the mers in Shiro's pod, take down three warships on its own once, shrieking with fury and grief and pouring out gouts of flame so hot they were mostly blue.
"I've never spoken to a fishytail before." Keith said, tilting his head slightly. "Mostly your kind flee when I come down. And I don't care to come for the human ships unless they are trying to shoot me down." He snorted, a gust of warm air over Shiro's tail that made his fins twitch, but wasn't unpleasant.
"They try to catch us, sometimes, too." Shiro said, shivering and curling his tail close. He had been snared in a net, once, and only escaped thanks to a pod of selkies that had scented blood in the water and mobbed the net, shredding it enough that Shiro could thrash free as he was hauled up towards the deck.
"I would imagine they do." Keith said softly, with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "The humans are very bad about sharing, and your kind are . . . magical legends to them. And very pretty." he added, with another little snort.
Shiro smoothed his left hand over his scales. "What do they even want from us?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
Keith lifted his head, brushing his sharp muzzle against Shiro's tail and making him shiver. He raised his head. "Anything they think they can wring from magical folk." Keith said ruefully. "They attack my kind usually because their legends claim dragons hoard gold, sometimes for imagined slights like stealing maidens or cursing ships; they sing songs of how a mermaid's kiss will save them from drowning. There are other things - they talk of how the finest pearls can only be found by a mermaid's hand - but those tales of immunity - and a mermaid's beauty - are what sailors cling to the most it seems."
Shiro leaned back, brows drawing together. "A mer might be able to save a creature that breathes air from drowning, but. . ."
"No magical immunity to drowning in your kisses, fishytail?" Keith snickered, and Shiro relaxed, laughing a little and shaking his head.
"And you. . ." Shiro paused, not wanting to offend. "We don't know much about dragons, either." he admitted.
"A dragon's hoard is what we find precious and ours." Keith said, tilting his head and arching one scaly brow. "We are not humans, or magpies," he laughed softly, "those things are rarely gold and gems."
Shiro nodded understanding and reached out tentatively, brushing his fingers over Keith's scales. He watched Shiro curiously, and Shiro yanked his hand back, stifling an embarrassed trill as he felt the scales on his face shimmering with a blush. He had just reached for Keith's face and-
Keith's muzzle nudged his side, so firmly he nearly toppled over before he caught hold of Keith's jaw to steady himself. Keith rumbled with something that might be a laugh, but much deeper this time, and Shiro shivered, patting him distractedly with one hand.
Keith's scales were thicker than his, and harder, like armour rather than the tough yet flexible shimmer of Shiro's tail. They weren't any less lovely than any mer Shiro had ever seen, though, shining in the light and nearly glowing from within with the brilliance of their colour.
"How do you know so much more?" Shiro asked
"About what the humans think? I hear things." Keith said with a rolling gesture that might have been the equivalent of a shrug. He resettled his wings. "My father used to tell me stories." he added, not looking at Shiro. "About other peoples? . . .I travel a little more widely, perhaps, than a fishytail."
Shiro huffed. "We travel a lot." he said, frowning. "Our territory ranges from-"
"You are still in the water, fishytail." Keith said gently, bumping the tip of his muzzle against the centre of Shiro's chest. "Whereas there is nowhere a properly curious dragon may not go if they really wish. Sky, soil, or even sea."
"Oh." Shiro's fins fluttered with embarrassment and he nodded. Keith eyed him with what looked like caution. "Tell me?" he asked tentatively.
Keith smiled, settling himself more comfortably. Shiro relaxed, though he slid closer to the tide pool again - Keith lifted his neck out of the way as Shiro neared him - trailing his fins through it and flicking water over himself.
Shiro had been napping until an alarmed shriek jolted him awake, and he threw a shower of water over himself as his tail jerked. He winced, gently catching hold of the small urchin he had also thrown into the air and returning it to its little tide pool.
Then he looked up just as a shadow fell over him and stifled a laugh, watching a roughly familiar creature of scarlet and shadow chose a landing spot nearby. He would have called to his friends who had evidently been so alarmed by the approaching dragon, but it appeared they had already fled.
"Hello again!" Shiro called, waving. He shifted a little further upright and pushed his oddly dry hair out of his face, sweeping it back and tucking it behind one ear.
Keith stretched out his neck as he picked his way front legs first down from the high point upon which he'd landed. "Hello. I saw you again and came to speak with you . . . but it seems I have frightened others of your pod again." he said, tipping his head away.
Shiro waved it off, grinning. "They're skittish. I'm glad to see you again!"
Keith smiled back, wicked fangs gleaming in the sunlight. He wound around a few rocky outcroppings, making his way towards Shiro. He chose a spot and lounged in a broad spiral that left his head near Shiro's torso and the rest of his sinuous body not so close, but curled in a crescent around Shiro.
Shiro rolled onto his side, propping himself on one arm, idly flicking his tailfin. "Where do you go when you fly past here?" he ventured curiously.
"My home is," Keith lifted one talon, gesturing, "in that direction, but I like to wander. To see what I can see." He made his fluid shrugging movement, the ripple flowing down his body making his scales shimmer.
"Oh." Shiro nodded, smiling. "My home is that way too." he said with a laugh, echoing the gesture with one hand. His fins curled gently as he propped his chin on one hand, rolling over onto his belly.
Keith chuckled. "Probably not quite so far." he observed, nodding shallowly. Shiro wrinkled his nose, but didn't object. "What does a mer's home look like?" he asked curiously, turning one great, glowing eye on Shiro.
Shiro blinked, then ducked his head, laughing softly.
"I have never seen one." Keith said a little stiffly, and Shiro shifted, reaching out to brush a hand over his muzzle.
"My pod lives mostly in the trench below a coral reef." Shiro said gently. "In caves or nearby in constructed rooms. A few live among the reef proper, but my home is in the slope above it, sunk into the rock." He paused, but Keith appeared to be listening raptly, so Shiro described the space. The way he had made it his home, the shelves and storage contrived, the anemones that were slowly encroaching around the top of the entrance, the eel that lived near the doorway that Shiro had to be quick about avoiding so as not to get bitten - he would not bite a mer a-purpose, but he was nearly blind and he always bit first by reflex, the small crabs that wandered inside and lost their way, needing to be removed.
In return Keith told Shiro about the dry stretch of land where his own home was found - an island, but large, and almost all desert. Shiro shivered at the thought of so much space stretching out without any water, but Keith was comfortable there - dragons needed water, as any living thing, but he was built for arid heat, and there was a tiny spring deep in the cave system which he had made his home.
"Do you keep a," Shiro trilled uncertainly, "hoard in your home?" he asked tentatively.
Keith paused, eyeing him. "Yes." he said finally.
Shiro made a soft thoughtful sound and turned the subject to something else, Keith settling a little nearer as they spoke. Shiro curled his tail towards the curving stretch of Keith's neck by reflex, then stopped himself, shifting nervously. Keith didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't mind, and Shiro relaxed slowly. But he kept his tail to himself.
Shiro was alone the next time he saw Keith, weeks later, playing at the surface and beneath it with a pod of dolphins. "Keith!" he cried, then fell silent, belling his fins to slow himself and falling backwards out of the centre of the speeding pod.
Several dolphins doubled back with concerned or urging clicks and chirps and Shiro stroked his hands over noses and backs as they pushed at him, looking up at the dark shape against the sky. It was definitely Keith; Shiro recognised his shape after the time spent with him before, and the red limned with black was unmistakable even in shadow. He was high above, but. . .
Shiro drew a breath and wrapped up his voice with all the power he could put into it, then- "Keith!" he called again, echoing out over the water, loud and piercing.
Great wings twitched, beginning to fold, then snapped out, cupping against the air much as Shiro's fins had in the water. Keith tumbled over backwards and drew his wings inwards, swooping downwards.
The dolphins chirruped and shrieked, diving under the surface and buffeting Shiro as they went, and Keith laughed as he came close enough to hear properly, the wind off his wings making Shiro shiver as it met his wet skin.
"You are loud, fishytail." Keith said, sounding impressed, and Shiro fluttered his fins, scales shimmering.
"I haven't seen you in a while." Shiro said softly, and Keith grinned. "I liked talking to you and I didn't want to miss you. Although I suppose this isn't-" he broke off as Keith dropped into the water, not splashing as much as Shiro would have expected.
"I can swim." Keith said lazily, spreading his wings out in the water and stretching his body lazily as he folded them once more, glittering with droplets of water like gems. "I have not seen you, or I would have come down." he said softly, extending his muzzle towards Shiro. "I enjoyed speaking with you, Shiro."
Shiro felt the shimmering on his face intensifying, and he dipped underwater for a moment to control himself, then reached out to Keith's muzzle as he rose again. Keith nudged the sharp tip of his nose into Shiro's hand, his brilliant eyes warm.
Shiro stroked lightly. "I spend most of my time deep under the surface, I suppose it's only by chance you saw me the last time. . ." he said with a sigh.
"Or that you saw me." Keith replied, huffing a sigh of his own, hot breath fanning over Shiro's arm and shoulder, making him giggle. Though. . .
"I do want to see you again, though." Shiro frowned, knuckles rubbing lightly at the smooth scales running down Keith's muzzle. "Not just hope that by chance. . ." Keith shifted, moving more gracefully in the water than Shiro would have anticipated, coiling around him without caging him in, head still bent close.
"Well you did manage to . . . catch my attention." Keith said dryly, flicking the tip of his tail as a large fish swam up to it curiously. Shiro smothered a smile as the fish sped off again.
"It's a pity you can't call me up from below, as well." Shiro said idly.
Keith lifted his head, cocking it to one side almost challengingly.
"It's not an imprecation," Shiro explained, "but you'd have to be very loud, sound deadens so much when coming from above water. Even our own calls."
Keith gave a wicked little smile. "Brace yourself, fishytail." he warned, and Shiro's brows drew together as Keith lifted his head, long neck extending from where he rested at the water's surface, pointing his nose up to the sky and drawing a deep breath-
Shiro froze as a . . . a roar, like a hundred of the humans' cannons and a raging inferno and a rolling storm all folded into one spilled from between Keith's jaws and shattered the air. The water rippled and trembled around them with the force of the noise and Shiro's ears rang.
Keith lowered his head and gently nudged Shiro's side with one talon. "Are you all right?" he asked, voice low again, and Shiro nodded faintly, rubbing one ear. "Is that loud enough, do you think, for you to hear under the water?"
Shiro looked at him and blinked, then broke into slightly shocky giggles. "I- I think that would do it, yes." he admitted, leaning his shoulder against Keith's chest and tipping his head. Keith looped his neck around to peer at Shiro head-on. "If I were near enough, anyway. The ocean is very big." He rested a hand on Keith's shoulder.
"I shall give it a try." Keith said with a fluid shrug.
Shiro smoothed his hand over Keith's bright scales. "I, ah, look forward to it." he said, stifling another giggle. "If you call for me I'll come." He promised, fingers splaying over Keith's chest, and Keith smiled slightly, nose bumping his shoulder.
"Thank you." Keith said, and Shiro patted the side of his muzzle lightly, smiling.
"Are you all right here in the water?" he asked, glancing back at the sturdy chest he rested against. "Or shall we move to one of the rocks?"
Keith eyed him. "I might not swim so well as you, fishytail, but I am not yet tired, no." he said with a shake of his head.
"Only asking." Shiro said, flicking his tail. Keith laughed and Shiro twisted, splaying his tailfin wide and giving a much stronger flick, throwing water up over Keith and across his face.
He sputtered, then shook himself, wings spreading halfway, and Shiro laughed, ducking playfully away as Keith swiped at him with one talon. Keith's claws were sharp and his talons large - perhaps even enough to catch something Shiro's size - but he was carefully slow as he moved, claws bypassing Shiro's shimmering tail as he tumbled at the surface and fluttered his tailfin teasingly.
He yelped as Keith caught hold of him just above the tailfin, still gentle but not so easily slipped, crimson scales and dark claws shining starkly against Shiro's own iridescent violet and smoky black scales. He thrashed his tail and Keith startled, his grip loosening, then narrowed his eyes and tightened it again before Shiro could take advantage.
"Slippery." Keith commented, flipping Shiro over by pulling his tail uppermost before releasing him. Shiro twisted and dove, reorienting himself underwater and then . . . slipping under Keith's body and trailing a teasing hand over his belly before popping up on his other side.
Keith snapped his jaws together more than arm's length over Shiro's head and he laughed, ducking and meekly swimming up in reach of Keith's front talons again. He grumbled low in his chest, but lowered his head and looped his neck around Shiro, meeting his gaze with one eye.
Shiro grinned and Keith mumbled gruffly again, but his eye was bright with amusement.
"I am not a tuna." Shiro said firmly, flicking his tail huffily.
Keith arched one scaly eyebrow. "Are you sure, fishytail?" he asked slyly, trailing one claw gently down the length of Shiro's tail. He shivered, fins fluttering, and couldn't help but press his tail up into the touch. Keith gently stroked the membrane of Shiro's tailfin with the backs of his talons. "No, you're far too lovely to be a tuna."
Shiro cleared his throat, tail curling up close. Keith was silent and Shiro squirmed, fins pressed close to his tail. "How. . . How fast can you fly?" Shiro asked after a moment, eyeing Keith's huge wings, neatly furled and pressed close to his body like fins.
Keith angled his head and twitched one wing. "How fast can you swim?" he countered.
Shiro grinned and tumbled through the water, flirting his tail before coming up again. "Do you want to race?" he invited playfully. Keith looked surprised. "Just for fun," Shiro clarified, "to play."
Keith hesitated and Shiro moved closer again, fingers seeking out his nose. "If you don't want to I don't mind." Shiro said softly, trilling companionably. "It's only a game we play often."
"If you wish." Keith said, dipping his muzzle lower, then dipping it under the surface and nudging the tip of his nose against Shiro's belly. Shiro giggled, curling his tail up and fluttering his tailfin against the underside of Keith's neck. "Where shall we race to?"
Shiro trilled, rolling over in the water as he thought. "Not the rock where we met before, but do you know the other, shaped like half an urchin, that way?" he pointed.
Keith blinked, then paused, looking thoughtful. "I believe so."
"To there?" Shiro suggested, smoothing his hands over his tail lightly.
"You can swim so far so fast?" Keith asked and Shiro grinned like a shark.
"Try me, fire-eyes." Shiro teased, flirting his fins and angling his body. "Do you need to dry off first?" He laughed as Keith gave an indignant snort.
"Certainly not." Keith shook his head and spread his wings. "Only let me get in the air first. Water is not the steadiest," he admitted with a sigh, "for taking off."
Shiro nodded and swam far enough away to give Keith room. He snapped his wings wide and gave a strong beat that splashed into the sea and buffeted Shiro with a blast of air, then coiled his body and reared up, wings moving faster.
It was still not precisely ungraceful, but it was the most ungainly movement Shiro had seen from Keith yet, watching him struggle into the air. Certainly he took off much more easily from rock, slipping gracefully into the air and soaring away.
Keith wheeled in a large circle, then came back around to Shiro, half-gliding. His tail flicked the surface of the water. "Ready, fishytail?" he called.
Shiro grinned. "Of course!" he called back, twisting to face the proper direction. "Go!"
Shiro was already moving as he cried out, delving back under the surface as he took off with a powerful stroke of his tail, though he didn't go deep. The water trembled with the force of the air being pushed down under Keith's wings, and Shiro trilled happily as he pushed himself harder, spiralling through the water and leaping up to give a playful chirrup as Keith came a little lower.
Keith chirruped back, a much . . . bigger sound, but it made Shiro giggle and have to slow down a bit as he dropped back into the water so he didn't breathe the wrong direction. He dove a little deeper this time, twisting around and around as he extended his arms and breathed deeply, gills fluttering in time with the powerful strokes of his tail.
He caught a glimpse of Keith not streaking straight ahead above him and corrected his spin, rising to the surface once more.
"Shiro?" Keith had looped back and was now straightening out again just a bit behind Shiro. "There you are!"
Shiro resisted the urge to croon, amused and touched. "I'm fine!" he called, pushing up out of the water and diving back under, but this time staying just under the surface. It was slightly more turbulent, but it kept him in easy sight of a dragon's eyes from above. Keith was staying quite low and close to the water's surface himself, Shiro realised. He leaped free of the water from time to time, calling out wordless encouragement and playful taunts to Keith, who echoed him with sharper cries.
Keith reached the rock just ahead of Shiro, impacting it talons first with a great crack of diverted wind. Shiro laughed breathlessly as he slowed, bracing his tail against the sudden drop of speed and drifting sideways to bump into the rock below Keith. He caught hold of one protrusion and gasped a bit for breath, flexing his tail in slow, strong movements to let the muscles relax.
"Ah, there you are." Keith said, and Shiro looked up to see him turning so his head was lowermost, still clinging to the sheer rock with his talons. It was impressive.
Shiro waved. "Here I am. You won!" he said with a smile. "You're fast."
Keith smiled, coming a little lower until his head was only a little above Shiro's at the surface. "I am." He preened a little, wings stretching wide. "Even among dragons. You are faster than I realised." He tilted his head until it was right-way-up compared to Shiro.
Shiro laughed at the odd gesture, but nodded. "I like to race, and I love to wander and explore, so . . . I'm faster than many of my pod." he said, rubbing his left fist against a stiff muscle in his tail.
Keith, he noticed, was slowly flexing his wings in and out, and wondered if it was loosening the muscles the sudden - and fast - flight had used so harshly.
"What is the furthest place you have explored?" Keith asked curiously, surprising him.
"Ah. . ." Shiro paused. "I have gone pretty far down into the Kerberos trench, but I've also travelled . . . pretty widely across the seas. Which do you mean?" he asked, cocking his head.
Keith looked stymied for a moment. "Both? Which was more interesting?"
Shiro trilled softly. "How about I tell you about what I saw in Kerberos, and you tell me the highest place you've ever flown?" he proposed, and Keith grinned.
Keith bobbed his head in agreement, shifting on the rock and stretching his wings wide once more.
Shiro reached out a hand, stroking a fur seal who approached to rub noses with the one providing a warm prop behind Shiro's shoulders as he lazed in the shallows, watching the stars. The water was cold, and the ice behind his back colder, but the seals pressed close around him were warm, and Shiro was built to withstand this anyway.
At least, for short periods. He shivered, delicate fins furling, at the thought of staying where it was so cold, or venturing even further north.
He tilted his head, rubbing his cheek against the seal beneath him as she began to move. She chirruped and rolled over lazily, yawning. Shiro laughed, stretching and closing his eyes, drawing a deep breath.
A soft rustling sound that didn't belong to the shifting of warm, furry bodies or the lapping water teased Shiro's ear. He stifled a yawn, patting blindly at another seal, and opened his eyes.
He bolted upright as he saw a plume of fire burn through the night sky above. The seals yipped and the ocean came to life with wriggling bodies as they inspected the strange sight and decided whether or not to panic. Shiro was poised to dive himself until-
"Hello, pretty fishytail."
Shiro's jaw dropped and he sagged back, the cow behind him making an inquisitive noise. He patted her absently and she relaxed, barking to some of her fellows, who followed suit, reclaiming comfortable resting places.
"Keith?" Shiro called softly, and a dozen seals suddenly fled across the ice as a dark shape dropped out of the sky, taking his chosen place. No one fought him for it.
"Of course." Keith said, bits and pieces of him beginning to come into focus as the afterimage of the bright fire he'd spat faded from Shiro's eyes. ". . .you speak to any other dragons who call you a pretty fishytail?" he questioned archly.
Shiro laughed, scritching behind a pup's ears as it whimpered and pressed against his waist. "No, certainly not." he said as Keith extended his neck and came close. "I was just- I wouldn't have expected to see you so far north."
"Nor I expect you to swim so far north." Keith said, leaving it open but not quite a question. "I wouldn't have thought you were built for the ice." He gently prodded Shiro's chest with his nose.
Shiro gasped.
"Shiro?" Keith asked, concerned, drawing his head back a little. The seals around Shiro tensed and watched him carefully, but Shiro had not fled, and they trusted in his confidence for the moment.
"You're warm." Shiro said, extending a hand. Keith chuckled, tilting his head and pressing the side of his muzzle against Shiro's hand. "You're hot, tides."
"I'm a dragon." Keith said dryly. "I am always warm."
"It's freezing up here!" Shiro said defensively, and ducked his head, biting his lip against a laugh as he caught sight of a few dark shapes moving towards the larger bulk of Keith's body lying on the ice. Keith was warm, and he was not acting aggressive, and he was lying on the ice - fair game.
"Dragons are always warm, Shiro." Keith said, voice rippling with amusement. "I prefer hotter climes, but it does me no harm to venture into the icy north. And you?"
"I'm a northern mer. We're bigger and . . . better insulated." Shiro informed him. "There are polar mers too, but I haven't met one in a long time. . ."
"Even better insulated?" Keith guessed. "Or are they perhaps furry, like these?"
Shiro giggled at the very idea. "No, they're not furry. Built different though, yes. And bigger even than me, even the smaller ones. There are some built more like whales."
Keith made a curious sound, then jumped. Shiro ducked his chin, smiling. Keith lifted his head and angled a look down at himself where several seals had settled against his chest and one side. He made an abortive sound, his wings twitching.
Shiro tilted his head, smile fading. "Are you all right?" he asked gently.
"Yes." Keith said absently. "They're- They're lying against me."
"Yes." Shiro agreed, petting the pup lying halfway across his belly.
"They. . ." Keith trailed off, looking back at Shiro. His eyes glowed in the starlit night. "I don't . . . frighten them." he said uncertainly.
Shiro stretched out a hand towards Keith - the pup yipped a soft complaint, but snuggled into his remaining hand - and he brought his head down again. Shiro rested his hand on Keith's muzzle once more. "You aren't all that scary." he said softly. "You're warm. You're settled quietly." He smiled. "You don't scare me."
Keith made another soft sound Shiro couldn't interpret, then lay his head down on the ice, neck stretching out in a gentle curve. A particularly adventurous pup promptly scampered towards Keith's neck, clearly setting her eyes on the spot just behind his jaw.
Keith let her push up there without moving, though his eyes were wide, and Shiro patted his nose.
"They really trust you." Keith said, half a question.
"Mers don't usually hunt their kind." Shiro said, stroking the pup across his body. "I'm not sure these have seen a mer like me before at all, anyway. But yes, to some extent. Enough to come close. Enough to share warmth. Enough to trust I would flee a threat your size if you were a threat." he added wryly.
"My kind would probably hunt them." Keith said with a hum, eyes tracking a large male swimming the perimeter of the group. "Few of us come so far into the icy reaches, though. Not without a reason, something to draw us here."
"Do you plan to hunt them?" Shiro asked cautiously, and Keith's eyes flicked to his.
Keith smiled. "No. They're . . . cute. And cuddly." He tilted one ear back towards the pup who had settled by his neck as she snuffled.
"What reason brings you so far north?" Shiro asked, shifting his shoulders and sitting up a little as the cow he was lying against gave a low bark. She rose and slipped off into the water, and Shiro sighed, looking over and trying to entice another to join him. A young bull inched closer, then settled in nearly the same spot, and Shiro patted him in thanks and shifted around to rest against his side.
"Curiosity." Keith supplied. He smiled as Shiro looked at him again, reaching automatically for his nose. The scales were familiar and warm under his hand - harder than any mer's scales, but the small ones of Keith's face were still pliable, flexing under Shiro's touch as he breathed. "I came for a lost gem, once."
"Oh?" Shiro was curious; Keith hadn't talked much about the kinds of things he liked to collect, though he had told Shiro more about how dragons collected and kept things.
"I didn't want it," Keith said with a soft laugh, "but another dragon did, and he has never done well with the cold. I tracked it down and acquired it, and he did a favour for me in return." Shiro made a soft sound of understanding, surprised, then fell silent.
Keith moved his head a little closer and Shiro shivered as his warmth pressed up alongside Shiro's tail. "Do you often commune with the lesser animals?" Keith asked softly, and Shiro blinked, startled, then looked around at the fur seals.
"I mean. . . I suppose." Shiro replied. "I enjoy time with them," he gestured at the seals, "playing or relaxing. Dolphins will seek us out to play or hunt together. It . . . depends."
"Is that Shiro or mer?" Keith asked, and Shiro laughed and set about trying to explain the relationships mers built with other, lesser animals in their waters, building up questions about dragons in return. Surely they were not all alone in their lofty aeries?
Then eventually came the day that Keith actually called for him from above the water. By chance he had not needed to, catching Shiro at the surface or being called down when Shiro spotted him in the air. Or they had missed each other entirely.
Shiro had said that he would come if called him - and meant it; he loved time with Keith and he would hate to miss it because he simply hadn't been above water - and Keith had said he could make himself heard if needed, even demonstrated it, but. . .
Shiro froze, all his fins splaying wide, as a . . . sound thrummed through the water.
Hunk yelped, tail curling up tight to his body as he clung to Pidge. She thrashed a little but allowed herself to be held tight as a shield. "What was that?" Hunk asked after a few more shuddering moments.
Shiro looked up towards the surface, a smile tugging at his lips. "A friend." he said, glancing back at his podmates. Pidge was giving him a very dubious look and Hunk looked like he thought Shiro was crazy.
"A friend." Pidge repeated dryly.
Shiro laughed. "It's fine, I promise!" he said, and then gave a powerful stroke of his tail and streaked off, spiralling upwards towards the surface. He reached it with a leap that brought him up over the water, just as a blood-red glow lit up the water around him.
Powerful claws latched around Shiro's tail and body before he could fall back to the water, and Shiro laughed again, startled, as he was whisked through the air. Keith squeezed gently, then released him, the wind from his wings buffeting the sea into little wavelets around Shiro as he settled onto the surface. Shiro flicked his tail and moved closer to Keith's head, trailing his fingers over smooth scales along the way.
"Hello, fishytail." Keith said playfully, nuzzling Shiro's shoulder.
Shiro smiled, smoothing his fingers over Keith's nose in return. "Hello, fire-eyes."
Said eyes flashed with mirth and pleasure, and Keith stretched out his neck, dipping underwater with a soft hiss. Shiro fanned his tailfin against one of Keith's legs companionably and got a toothy smile.
"You were certainly right that I would hear you if you wanted to be heard." Shiro told him with some amusement. "I think you panicked everyone else, though.
Keith's body shifted through a rolling, arching movement. "I don't know how not to frighten them." he said softly. He rolled his head from side to side, water sluicing off his scales save for the droplets that beaded on the iridescent surfaces. "It seems I frighten everyone, even other magical creatures." he said, lifting his head again with a sigh that rippled the water before him. The fur that ran in a crest down his spine was wet, sticking to his scales rather than spiked up wildly.
"You don't frighten me." Shiro said staunchly, frowning. Keith was . . . capable of being frightening, yes, and he was a deadly predator - but so was Shiro, and so were the sirens, and the selkies, even seraphs were predators. "You never have."
"No." Keith said with a softer look. "I don't know what's wrong with you," he said wryly, "but I didn't, even that first day, did I?"
"No." Shiro said firmly, flicking his tail and pressing close to Keith's great head, wrapping an arm around his neck. "You don't."
One of Keith's talons came up and curled around Shiro's back in return, and Shiro wriggled his fins happily, idly stroking one hand over Keith's scales just beyond his eye. Keith blinked slowly and focused on him, nearer ear flicking, and Shiro giggled nervously as he realised what he had done, but Keith looked content, smiling softly and certainly not lifting his head away. Shiro stroked again, and Keith's brilliant eye fell half-closed as he tilted his head against Shiro.
"I didn't know you could pick me up." Shiro said curiously as he released his hold on Keith, a little reluctantly. Perhaps it should have been an obvious assumption, but. . . Keith was huge, yes, but slender, built for flight and speed, and Shiro was big even for a deep-water, northern mer. Even without accounting for the solid weight of his right arm Shiro was heavy by the standards of those who lived out of water.
Keith snickered into the water, dipping his head mostly under and then up again. "I eat things bigger than you, pretty fishytail."
The scales across Shiro's face and shoulders shimmered as he squirmed, flustered.
"No, you aren't too heavy for me to carry." Keith said with a rumbling laugh. Shiro twitched as something brushed his tail and looked to see Keith's long tail curling around his own, the tuft at the end tickling his skin just over his hip where the scales faded.
Shiro's scales shimmered and his fins fluttered. He curled his tail around Keith's in return, though, tailfin flicking flirtatiously without his conscious direction.
"Though it might not be terribly comfortable for either of us, for long." Keith admitted, and it took Shiro a moment to catch up and remember what he had been saying.
Shiro plucked lightly at the tufted end of Keith's tail, inspecting it curiously and trying to stifle his self-consciousness as their tails wound more tightly together. Keith tugged it out of his hands and he clicked with embarrassment, feeling the scales across his cheeks begin to shimmer again. Keith flicked the wet fur against Shiro's chest, making him jump and laugh at the ticklish sensation.
He glanced up. Keith was smiling, and he lowered his head to nudge Shiro's shoulder again, allowing Shiro to press one shoulder against his neck for support.
Shiro pulled the end of his tail and swallowed a laugh as the whole of his body twitched. He didn't pull away, though, his longer, slightly more slender tail looped affectionately around Shiro's, threaded between his fins comfortably.
Shiro squeezed with his own in return, amused at the faint surprise Keith showed at the strength of it. He gentled the hold and stroked one of the higher loops of Keith's tail with one hand instead, pushing his hair back over his shoulders and leaning against Keith's neck. "I'm glad you called for me." he said softly.
"I'm glad you came." Keith replied, his voice rumbling through Shiro's body.
"You're just . . . big." Shiro said, trying to be diplomatic. "There are places you won't fit, unfortunately." He glanced at the narrow gap in the solid rock across the small island, leading down into the water. It was passable for those who breathed only air, but nothing of Keith's size would remotely fit through even the first passageway.
"I'm actually rather small," Keith said with an amused snort, "for one of my kind."
"Well a small dragon is still very big compared to most things." Shiro pointed out, dragging his nails lightly over Keith's scales. He shivered, his crest rising further, going stiff, then settling back to its usual fluffy state. "There must be places you have wished to explore before only for it to turn out to be too small for you to fit?"
"I can be smaller if I wish." Keith said, angling his head to give Shiro a somewhat confused look.
Shiro frowned. "I know you're very . . . flexible and you can probably squeeze into tight spaces you don't look like you could," although the thought made Shiro shudder, remembering a collapse that had once trapped him along with two friends when they were exploring; they had been trapped in the near-dark for several days, "but there has to be a limit."
"No, I mean I can be smaller." Keith said, puffing a warm breath at Shiro. "Most dragons can, if we so choose. We can't precisely pass for human - though some of us closer than others - but we can pass through the spaces they create for themselves."
Shiro stared, his hands going still. "You. . ." he trailed off, trying to reframe that in his mind. "You can be . . . a different shape entirely? Smaller than this and-" He gestured helplessly.
Keith looked mildly concerned. "Yes. Of course."
"Oh." Shiro blinked, his tail flopping once, fins still.
"Shiro?" Keith nudged him gently. "Are you all right?"
"You've . . . never mentioned that." Shiro said distractedly. Keith pulled away a little, eyeing him. "I wouldn't have- You can change shape."
"Yes." Keith said again, voice low. "I didn't think of it, I suppose." he said almost apologetically.
Shiro nodded. It was a shock, but it wasn't as though Keith had any obligation to tell him everything, and he had shared so much already Shiro couldn't be too surprised if the thought had slipped his mind. Shiro knew so much less about his kind. Perhaps it was something legends spoke of, but one had never reached Shiro's ears.
Shiro bit his lip, fins curling a little. "May I see?" he asked.
Keith's head reared back and Shiro clicked softly low in his throat.
"Please." Shiro added, licking his lips. "If you wouldn't be uncomfortable."
"As you wish, Shiro." Keith rumbled, drawing back. Shiro curled his tail and sat up a little more, watching. Keith shifted with a sinuous roll of his shoulders and front legs, then raised them, wings partially extending for balance. Then he blurred, scales shimmering with black fire and the pure heat in the air, and twisted in on himself until there was a figure not so unlike a mer in front of Shiro. Except for the legs. And-
"Oh tides you're tiny!" Shiro said, clapping one hand to his mouth.
Keith stared at him, and Shiro giggled even as his fins fluttered with embarrassment. He hadn't meant to blurt that out but- He was used to Keith being so huge he could have bitten Shiro in half if he chose, and now here he was and he was . . . tiny. He was much smaller than Shiro even accounting for the length and size of his tail in comparison to human-like legs, and somehow as slender and sinuous as he was in his true shape.
"Sorry!" Shiro said, muffling himself - badly - with his hand.
Keith snorted, his jewel-bright eyes sparkling - they still glowed like fire - and paced towards Shiro, his slim tail lashing behind him. Shiro leaned back as he approached, but he only crouched nearby, grinning and showing off fangs that somehow looked no less wicked than usual, despite his mouth now being so much smaller.
Shiro reached out, unable to resist, and Keith leaned in, allowing Shiro's hand to slide over the top of his shoulder, where there were scales as thick as ever on his true form. He did show some bare skin with no scales, but his upper body - and his face - had many more scales than Shiro's own, and they were mostly solid swathes where Shiro had speckles.
Keith cocked his head. His horns swept up in a graceful curve from the tousled mess of his hair, which fell around his face, the tips just shy of his collarbones. There was no mistaking him for anything but what he was, even in a near-human shape.
Shiro brushed his fingers over Keith's jaw, meeting his gaze. Those fire-brilliant, gleaming, beautiful eyes, he thought, were what gave away Keith's nature more than anything, no matter what the rest of him might look like. Like the heart of a flame lit him up from inside.
Keith smiled slightly, and Shiro ducked his chin, scales shimmering and fins furling tightly as he realised he had just been cradling Keith's jaw, looking into his eyes, leaning in so close. . .
Keith bent closer, one hand coming to rest on Shiro's tail. He shivered under the touch, and Keith leaned on him with the confidence of one who knew how strong he was, free hand coming up to brush over Shiro's hair, then trail delicately over his brow and down alongside his eye, following the curve of his cheek and jaw until Keith was mimicking the way Shiro's hand had framed his own face.
Shiro blinked a few times, raising his eyes to meet Keith's once more, his throat tight.
Keith dipped his head, closing his eyes, and gave Shiro a gentle kiss that left him dizzy with surprise. He pulled back after barely more than a lingering, feathery caress of lips on lips, and Shiro made a soft chirring sound in protest as Keith drew away.
Keith smiled slightly, clawed fingertips gentle as they trailed along the underside of Shiro's jaw.
"There are benefits," Keith said in a soft voice that rumbled with surprising depth, "to this shape. Even if it is tiny." He arched a brow.
Shiro's fins fluttered as he tipped his head. "You know. . ." he said archly, eyeing Keith sidelong. Keith gave him a curious look in return. Shiro swept his tail sideways, knocking Keith's legs from under him and catching him gently. Shiro wound his tail around Keith affectionately, laughing at the look on his face. "I can do this, with you like this."
Keith laughed, bowing his head and bumping his nose against Shiro's cheek the way he would bump his muzzle against Shiro's ribs or shoulder. But . . . ever so much different, like this, small and soft and wrapped up in Shiro's embrace. Shiro swallowed thickly.
"You can." Keith shifted, his slim tail curling up around Shiro's tail, the tufted end tickling by one of his side fins.
"Do you," Shiro paused, "do you mind?"
Keith raised his eyebrows, the fine scales outlining his eyes catching the light as he moved. "No, Shiro." Shiro tightened the curl of his tail, holding Keith more snugly. "I don't mind you being the one to hold me, pretty fishytail." he said playfully, eyes going half-lidded as he tipped his head, watching Shiro through his lashes.
Shiro stroked his cheek and he leaned into the touch, relaxed and easy. Shiro hesitated, then gently drew him closer, reassured when he moved with the caress without so much as a pause.
Shiro kissed him, and Keith purred as he returned it, leaning in against Shiro's chest, hands sliding over his shoulders and around him. Shiro's tail squeezed Keith in return, and he was vaguely aware he was holding Keith very tightly indeed and it might not be the most comfortable for something his size, but Keith kept kissing him, hot mouth and sharp teeth and wicked tongue, and he couldn't keep hold of a thought.
"I love you." Shiro gasped as their lips parted, realising what had slipped out too late to quiet himself. He squirmed, his scales shimmering.
Keith looked startled, but only for a moment. He bowed his head and nuzzled Shiro's cheek, cupping his jaw with one hand. "I love you too, my pretty fishytail." he said in a low rumble that was too big for his tiny form.
"Not- Not because of this, I mean," Shiro clicked awkwardly, then choked as he tried to swallow down the sound, "I know I never said anything, but I- And I never would have expected- And-"
Keith kissed him quiet and Shiro trilled low in his throat, stroking Keith's side with one restless hand. "Hush," Keith said as he pulled away, barely going far enough to speak, his nose pressed against Shiro's cheek, "I know it isn't because of this." He bent one knee, pressing against Shiro's tail and making him squirm as Keith's hip hit a very sensitive spot, probably one he had no idea of. "I know because I would love you no matter what shape you took . . . my pretty fishytail." He smiled, his eyes bright and his pointed ears tilted slightly down.
Shiro's breath caught and he bit his lip as he smiled at Keith, a shiver running all the way down to the tip of his tailfin before he managed to echo the sentiment. He ran his fingers through Keith's hair where it fell messiest along one sharp cheekbone.
"I am very pleased to be able to do this, however." Keith said in a low purr, and framed Shiro's face in his hands, drawing him into another hot kiss. Shiro moaned his agreement, fins curling with pleasure as Keith stretched, tail lashing, and pressed against his body.
Shiro clung just as hard, tail coiling snugly around his beloved dragon and hands twining into his hair as Keith's hands smoothed down his chest and over his ribs to wrap Shiro in a tight embrace.