A.N.

Warning in this chap for a little blood/roughness, all consensual

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It was no simple thing to be fae in the world of men, Haru thought bitterly as he nimbly dodged past yet another grate embedded in the sidewalk outside the noodle shop Rin had insisted on dragging him to. Even a little over a century after the accords, iron dominated the city-scape and fringe groups continued to carry silver with them everywhere, ignoring all the published articles that proved beyond a doubt silver only harmed demons.

Personally, Haru thought the demons took their continual- well, demonization, with good grace considering reports of their devouring the souls of humankind had been on a steady decline for nearly two decades. Haru's own temper was wearing dangerously thin, however.

"I'm sorry," Rin offered, a sheepish smile playing about his lips. "I thought they were fae-friendly. They didn't throw such a tantrum over my tattoos."

No, and why would they? The myriad runes etched like scars down Rin's arms and across his shoulder blades denoted a master rank elemental of the fire clan; not a man to anger casually. Like his element, Rin's temper could be both explosive and unpredictable. Buildings had been known to burn like so much tinder and sparks to rain from the sky when he was unduly provoked. Fortunately he was in a scintillating mood today; enough that when the shop's owner had insisted he wouldn't serve Haru's kind it had produced only a handful of errant embers that danced across Rin's knuckles like so many brass coins.

"It's not your fault." Haru insisted with a wry twist of his lips. It was rare that the fae ever emerged from their enclaves to mingle freely, and the selkie more than most had been cautious about showing themselves even with the protection of a treaty. "I prefer seafood anyway."

Rin hummed his agreement, eyes darting observantly around the square as they emerged from the side-street. "Know any good places for seafood?"

Haru flashed him a mocking look, "All of them."

It wasn't an exaggeration. The only thing Haru loved more than eating was eating well, and after several centuries of making his way through the human realm he had certainly a amassed enough treasure to do just that. Rin's own pay was no small affair, most of his work occupied with delicate smithing even the most talented of human hands would never get quite right. An afternoon of indulgence at Haru's favorite place wouldn't lighten their purses much, but he wanted nothing so much as to be back within the safety of the enclave where curious eyes didn't follow his every footstep.

Some latent instinct warned Haru he was still prey in these men's eyes, even with lifetimes worth of cunning and the laws of the land to protect him.

"I was thinking we could head out to the docks, though, maybe see about catching our own meal-"

Rin's heartfelt groan put an end to his thought, "Again? I swear if I have to use another fishing rod I'll turn it into kindling and roast our supper over it."

"Fine. I'll hunt and you cook." He couldn't suppress a thrill at the thought; it wasn't often he got the chance to show off for Rin, frisking through the waters like the carefree pup he had never had the chance to be. When he had been young enough for those silly antics, men had still been combing the shores looking for selkie to bind to them, convinced making one of the sea folk their bride would bring them health, wealth and prosperity.

In point of fact it had seldom brought them anything but ruin. A vengeful fae was the most dangerous creature in all the world, and after years held captive away from their water and deprived of their very souls there were few selkie merciful enough to leave their captors without exacting a hefty price.

"Maybe we should just head back." Rin countered, uncharacteristically subdued. Haru glanced at him incredulously, noting the grim tilt of his lips and the way his runes had begun to glow softly, magnified by the afternoon sunlight.

"What is it?" Fire elementals were unpredictable, yes, but Haru was certain was more than the words of the shopkeep upsetting Rin now. He was glaring ahead at a small group heading in their direction, slowly fanning out into a semi-circle that would block any escape except an all-out retreat.

That was not an option any self-respecting fae would so much as contemplate.

"Wisps, I think." Rin murmured with studied nonchalance, lengthening his strides to place himself protectively before Haru.

"Wisps?" Haru questioned, extending his senses to feel for the nearest body of water- tepid water puddles, condensation on pipes, brackish mire in the pipes below them… there was enough for him to wreak a merry havoc if necessary, but not near enough for an extended fight.

"We were forced to exile a few recruits at the last gathering. Petty arsonists mostly." Rin's lips twisted in a contemptuous sneer. Alone he could probably take any two of these upstarts with no trouble; perhaps three if he had been conserving his energy.

Haru knew Rin well enough to know that his stores were likely all but depleted; the man simply couldn't help wielding his power at every available opportunity. "I didn't think they were going to be a problem. At least not this soon."

The second part of Rin's explanation clicked and Haru frowned, "Mostly arsonists?"

If possible Rin's expression grew even more severe, "One of them was a half-drake."

Haru sighed. There was nothing worse than interfering with a territorial drake; even a half-blood could do serious damage in these close quarters. Not to mention if any Humans got involved it would be a gross violation of treaty. Whether he and Rin won or lost this fight, there was every chance they would be spending the rest of the afternoon in a cell. Maybe worse. Some of the grand magisters still had a taste for seal-skin coats.

Resigning himself, Haru began a steady song, wending it through his thoughts until he felt the water he summoned leaping and dancing with eagerness to do his bidding. Most of it was tainted, the earth and muck making it slightly unwieldy and that much more volatile.

Good. It had been a mortal age since he'd had a decent challenge. Twice that since he'd had occasion to battle an actual drake, half-blooded or not.

"Rin!" One of the young men stepped forward, gesturing to the others to keep their distance. Haruka wasn't naive enough to think it was a peaceable gesture. Fire grew exponentially and even its most talented users had to be wary of getting caught up in their own flames. Of course water was an equally capricious mistress, but at least Haru had never lost his eyebrows and lashes to his element as Rin had when he first began his training.

By the time the young man- the drake, he suspected- was near enough to read their faces, Haru was grinning widely. He allowed a hint of teeth to creep into his expression when the drake's steps faltered into a stumble. Outnumbered did not mean outclassed as he was about to learn.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Rin returned, perfectly at ease. His voice dipped into a threatening register as he continued, "Especially after the Eldest commanded you to leave."

"The enclave, not the city." The drake countered, motioning to the buildings around them in a less than subtle reminder they were governed as much by the laws of humans as the fae here. Not that Rin could be bothered to give a damn.

"I understand that was your suggestion." The drake finished, all trace of his smile disappearing. Haru tensed in readiness, ignoring Rin's quelling glance. He had a tendency to forget who was the eldest between them, and a penchant for showing off that meant even as a novice he had hoarded most fights to himself.

"It was." Rin was the first to spark fire, making his tattoos glow ostentatiously. Much more and he would have ruined yet another good shirt.

Haru only rolled his eyes at the blatant showmanship, refusing to give Rin the satisfaction of gawking like an untried boy. His eyes returned to the runes when Rin finally refocused his attention on his would-be opponent; as an inimical element to his own, he was naturally drawn to flame though he could never wield it for himself. He had the creeping suspicion Rin sensed that and played to his curiosity as often as possible, preening over Haru's fascination with his craft.

Evidently the drake didn't care to be outdone- his novice's runes flared to blazing life, betraying his inexperience with their piercing brightness. Haru smelled singed cloth on the air, barely restraining the impulse to call his makeshift rain with every instinct screaming threat.

"Recant." The drake commanded, direct now that they had dispensed with any pretense of civility. Haru called his first trickle, relaxing minutely when he felt Rin take the wordless invitation to twine their two skills together, heating the water until Haru could feel an echo of it in the threads they wove.

"The Eldest's orders are absolute." Rin hadn't finished the thought before Haru lashed out, the scalding water taking the drake in his eyes- he seized Rin's shirt, hauling him back and away into a retreat he knew the elemental would be too stubborn to effect on his own.

The drake's wordless cry echoed in their ears as Haru yanked a sputtering, swearing Rin into an alley, barreling down the passage toward pure water's call. He could sense the enclave through that connection, feel the power the fae collectively imbued their elements with to keep the taint of the commons away from their city sanctuaries.

"They're gonna follow." Rin snapped, keeping pace anyway, "You should've let me fight him-"

"And risk turning the whole block into a cascading inferno with humans for kindling? We'll take them once we're beyond the boundary."

Rin huffed but didn't complain, even sped up when they heard the bellows of the punks on their trail. Stubborn he might be, but no fool at least.

They reached the waypoint in less than a minute, Rin calling power to his fingertips to trace the sigil 'welcome' there, intertwined with Haru's own. They didn't have a moment to spare for admiring their work but tumbled through into the shade, swallowed up by cleansing mist.

Their pursuers weren't far behind, banishing the mist with a fireball that singed the tips of Haru's hair as it blazed past.

Only two remained, the others trapped in the common city without the benefit of their sigils.

Easy.

He gathered the mist about them thickly, obscuring their forms even as he pooled the moisture in the air to mix with earth, the ground giving beneath the feet of their opponents even as they attempted to call their fire. No easy feat when they were hemmed in by water on all sides, but the drake at least had no trouble calling flame.

Haru, swift as he was, hadn't even had the chance to properly call a shield before he felt the sharp pain of the heat searing his sensitive skin. After centuries of peace he had forgotten the sheer agony of flames' tongues licking his flesh. For one critical second Haru lost his concentration, screaming in shocked pain and rage at his own stupidity.

He felt it the moment Rin clumsily pulled the threads of water from him, trying and failing to wield them like fire. He had no time to shout a warning, no time for anything but a desperate flail for balance before he hit the earth. Not that it would have done any good- the youngest uninitiated child knew the risks of calling an element so unlike their own and Rin was no exception.

A sharp pull and Haru liberated his water, unraveling the tangled skein Rin had made of his magic. He watched Rin stumble, choking like his lungs were filling, unable to hold his fire while grappling with the specter of the water magic. His runes flickered and died out one by one, sending a wave of fear through his partner.

All the battles they had already fought and this toothless whelp was the one to deliver the finishing blow due to no more than a careless error.

It wasn't going to happen like that. Haru summoned water again, reaching for the embers of the drake's fire coiled within him, turning the drake's own body against him until that ember began to smolder, the flames flickering on his fingertips becoming no more than wisps of smoke.

Haru wouldn't kill another fae, but he could damn well ensure the little beast couldn't call fire for decades without the feeling of water in his nose and throat, smothering him from within, drowning him on dry land.

He knew his work was done when the brat coughed and vomited, trembling as he fell to his knees, sheer panic in his eyes and disbelief written across his expression.

Rin still lay where he had fallen, sucking in great gulps of air as his fingers scrabbled for purchase. Haru caught his hands, wrapping a sturdy arm about his shoulders to pull him up, summoning what water he could and forcing the magic from Rin's body. He didn't have to be a master of fire to realize Rin's flame was flickering out too. If he lost it to the water he had tried to weave, no amount of time would bring it back.

That thought almost made Haru turn back to the halfling drake, tempted to douse the last of his flame in payment. The resolve must have shown in his eyes because Rin caught his shirt to stare him down, sternly mouthing "Don't" though his throat was too sore to vocalize it.

"On your feet." Haru chivvied him, sparing a last withering glance for their opponents. "I'll take you to the guild hospital."

For once Rin didn't even protest half-heartedly, a sure sign of the end of days if ever there was one. It would have been funny if Rin's skin hadn't been rapidly cooling beneath his fingertips, if the runes on his shoulders weren't losing their soft glow despite Rin's obvious attempt to hold his power.

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"I could save him."

Haruka didn't startle at the soft words. He had felt Makoto's presence from the moment the man had first entered the hospital, heard his light steps dancing up the stairs, even sensed the man's curious reticence as he had hovered just beyond the door.

"For a price." Haru finished the thought, twining his fingers through Rin's own. Normally Rin's skin was blazing hot, enough to make Haru's muscles leap and tense at the heat whenever he dared draw too close. It was a mark of the seriousness of Rin's plight that the guild hospital staff had piled blanket after blanket atop him and left an open fire blazing in the pit at the foot of his bed, coals scattered about the bed where he lay and a weave of scalding heat protecting him from even the window's errant breeze.

Rin should have been able to draw strength from it, make its energy his own. Instead he lay cold and pale, unresponsive to any of the doctors' myriad tests.

Haru tried valiantly to pretend he had not sensed the nurse's anxiety when she last checked his temperature, ignoring the intrusive memory of her disbelieving gasp.

Mako quietly shifted a chair into place beside him, sparing only the briefest glance for Rin, but then, Mako and Rin had not been fast friends for centuries, always together and never apart. To Mako, Rin had only ever been yet another fae creature in a city already full to the brim with them, without even the benefit of a respected name or exalted class to protect him.

"I cannot help my nature, Haru." He sounded sincere, but Haru could see the glint of avarice in his golden eyes.

Precisely what Makoto's nature was Haru wasn't certain. Most days he pretended to be human, though he only ever managed a pale facsimile of it. Malicious tongues- among them Rin's- said he was a demon, always on the prowl for a desperate soul willing to strike a bargain. His eyes weren't right for that, though, and Haru had yet to meet a demon that kept its home in the enclave rather than out among the high emotion of humankind.

They preferred to stay near their food source.

Haru had begun to think he might be a changeling or perhaps even a shapeshifter, but neither would have the power to save Rin.

For all his faults, Mako never lied.

"He's dying. What happened?" Mako did not pretend to be overly invested in the answer, but Haru appreciated even the effort to draw him into conversation.

"A minor guild clash. We were ambushed by children." Haru chuckled bitterly "He was trying to protect me, but our magic-" Haru's voice faltered on the last words, the memory set in painful relief before his mind's eye.

Mako hummed quietly, drawing subtly closer. "I am grateful that you're safe."

"But not enough to take on a debt to him?"

"It is not my debt to pay." Mako shrugged, "Unless, of course, you are willing to pay my price."

"And what is that, exactly?" Haru bit out, tightening his grip on Rin's hand. Mako's gaze flicked to their entwined fingers. He reached out and gracefully pried Haru's hand away, settling it in his own like he had the right. Haru bridled at the casual intimacy, but did not protest.

A spark of awareness raced up his arm, raising goosebumps in its wake; it had always been like this between them. For a time Haru had even suspected they might be mates, but whatever Makoto was, Haru was certain it was not Kindred and Selkie never matched outside their own kind.

Mako's thumb played over the steady thrum of Haru's pulse, a new smile hovering about his lips that raised his hackles. Rin's life was hanging in the balance and this bastard was calmly considering how much he could gain for saving it. Perhaps he was a demon. A devil, even.

"If you give me your pelt, I will restore him."

Haru jerked away instinctively but Mako's grip on his hand never relented, his thumb still glossing over Haru's racing pulse.

"What?" All his preplanned responses deserted him, the offer so unexpected it knocked every other thought from his mind.

For centuries Humans had hunted his kind and their pelts, taking them as pets or worse. Even other Fae had joined in, making a sport of destroying selkies' pelts, confining them forever to their land-bound forms. There were so few left that remembered those days, immortal lifetimes cut short for the sake of petty cruelty. Haruka remembered though. He was one of the few ancients left that remembered the days when they could not reveal their kind; when even their own Kindred had not known where their pelts were kept for fear they might be coerced into telling.

His pelt was neither more nor less than his soul, and Makoto casually demanded it of him in the same breath that he offered the life of Haru's oldest friend.

The silence between them stretched on until it was almost a living being between them. Haru couldn't begin to fathom the thoughts swimming behind Mako's eyes, but he refused to look away all the same, willing Mako to listen and understand.

"That's a very steep price."

"It's not an easy thing to drag a fey creature back from death. We cheat it so often that once it has its claws in us even a little, it is reluctant to let go. If my price seems unreasonable to you, it is because I will not escape unscathed either." Makoto's lips thinned, eyes brightening with an unholy fire. "You would have to make it worth my while."

"But my pelt? You would have no use for it." Haru pressed, holding on to his studied composure by the merest thread. "There must be something else."

Mako chuckled mirthlessly. "I don't bargain, Haru." His lips twisted with distaste to even mouth the word. "You know my condition. Will you accept it?"

"After all our years as friends, you know what you're asking. You know that it is cruel." Haru drew icy indifference about him like a protective cloak, but between the two of them Mako was by far the more proficient at that prized attribute of the fae. Haru wondered who- or what- had taught it to him.

"I am only willing to offer these terms because you are my friend. But there is no need for you to answer now; I want you to be very certain of your answer before you give it." Mako pushed himself to his feet, moving the chair back into place. He clamped a hand on Haru's shoulder, his grip firm and strong. Despite everything, Haru still drew comfort from it.

"I'm sorry, Haru."

That wasn't the whole truth. Haru sensed there were far more words Mako was not willing to speak. He was wise enough to know he would never hear them, either. Mako hoarded his secrets jealously, even from his oldest friends.

He pulled away, making for the door on feet as quiet as a cat's before Haru's voice stopped him at the threshold: "Done. In bond and in blood."

Haruka could hardly force the words past his tight throat; the ceremonial declaration became but a whisper of sound. Still, it was enough to forge the bargain between them. Haru's gaze was fixed on Rin's pale face so that he did not see the flicker of surprise quickly followed by satisfaction, that flashed through Mako's eyes.

Makoto wasted no time gliding across the room to Rin's bedside. He took a limp hand in his own, brushing back Rin's flame-red hair in a surprisingly tender gesture. He leaned down, and for the barest second Haru thought he would kiss Rin like some Prince Charming come to life.

Haru stood quickly, fists clenching on the chair, fighting back an unexpected surge of fury-

Then Makoto drew a shallow breath, pressed his lips to Rin's own, and…

Breathed fire.

Haruka froze, anger evaporating in an instant to be replaced by awe, swallowed up by a chill of shock. Dragon fire. Tachibana Makoto was a dragon.

The color returned to Rin's cheeks almost immediately, and small wonder after such a gift; fire elementals had always been closely entwined with dragons, back when full-blooded dragons had existed. Bloodlines had become so mixed it was rare to find a dragon that could summon even a candle's flame, let alone breathe fire as was their birthright.

To find two in one day capable of wielding the element- Haru shivered with unease.

Nothing less than a full-blooded dragon could breathe life, and the toll was plain to see etched in the lines of agony on Mako's face, the way his fingers clenched in a white-knuckled death grip on the edge of the bed, body already swaying with weariness. It was no easy feat to banish death itself.

He glanced up, jade eyes flickering to amber, curious patterns shifting and changing just beneath the skin of his face and neck like swirls of ink dissolving in water. Never had he looked less Human than he did in that moment. Something within Haru stirred in response, a little patch of feral wildness too long disguised by his thin veneer of tameness-

Haru ruthlessly kept it in check, swallowing the warning growl that rose unbidden to his lips. He hadn't made such a novice mistake since he was a pup, when there had been far fewer Human ears to hear it. He couldn't quite stop it when he saw the way Mako's fingers combed absently through Rin's hair though, checking the man's color for himself.

Whether he was protesting the casual intimacy on behalf of himself or his friend, Haru no longer knew.

"He'll live." Makoto murmured, voice subdued and a little hoarse at the edges. "Though it will be a day or two before he wakes." Mako faltered, bracing himself against the bed for its support. "As for our bargain, I will take your blood as surety."

Haruka blinked, hardly processing the words. "In bond and blood" he had said, the ritual words that bound all fae, but seldom was the latter actually demanded any more. It was an insult, a sign of Mako's distrust that he would ask it now, but dragons had ever been a mistrustful lot when it came to matters of possession. Which he was now, Haru thought bleakly. Mako had demanded his pelt, something selkie had only ever willingly offered their mates, and even then in the strictest secrecy.

He was disappointed Mako thought so little of him, but after what he had witnessed, understanding drew the sting from the offense.

"Of course." He said, pretending his world wasn't unraveling beneath his feet. He brought his forearm to his mouth, discarding his glamor and allowing his teeth to sharpen.

Mako's hand stopped him, drawing his arm away. "No. Allow me."

Haruka nodded firmly, flicking a glance over Mako's shoulder, watching the steady rise and fall of Rin's chest. It went against his nature, allowing another to harm him even with his consent but he was acutely conscious of the sacrifice Makoto had to have made in offering his fire- a price at least as steep as Haru's own pelt.

Except Mako didn't prick his skin with dragon's claws, didn't rend his flesh with impossibly sharp teeth.

Instead Mako's arms closed around him, pulling him close so he could bury his face in the crook of Haru's neck to take in his scent. He leapt at the feel of warm lips pressed to the skin there just before Mako pulled away to claim his mouth in a kiss just shy of savagery.

Everything in Haru responded to it, his body turning soft and pliant as he melted into the embrace, letting Mako tilt his head just so, relishing the biting grip of his fingers as they sunk into the skin of Haru's jaw to pry it open, slipping his tongue past wicked fangs with no care for whether they might pierce him.

Haru bit, purring as the tang of blood flooded his mouth. Mako groaned into the kiss, leaning forward to press Haru into the door behind them, inhuman strength serving no better purpose than to pin him there.

How long since he'd had this? Too long ago for Haru to remember. The question seemed infinitely less important than when he could have it again-

There was a sharp pain as Mako returned the favor, sucking at his tongue in a lewd gesture, mimicking what Haru was beginning to hope Mako would do to his cock-

They sprang apart, sanity returning all at once, both of them panting, neither the collected men that had first entered the room and neither prepared to pretend their world hadn't been shaken to its foundation.

For once Haru was the first to recover himself, carefully easing back into his glamor until his eyes didn't spark such an unholy blue and his teeth looked perfectly benign. He still tasted Mako's blood, it sang in him until he was nearly drunk with the sensation but with an effort he contained it.

"Is that enough?" The words barely shook at all, though he could hear a tinge of breathlessness in his tone.

"Yes." Mako breathed, ragged and barely above a whisper. Haru ignored the surge of satisfaction at how easily he had made Mako come undone. It was no victory unless he had managed to keep his pride, but both of them had come undone like untried pups.

Mako blinked, and his glamor too slipped back into place, the streaks of gold and bronze in his hair fading to the dull sheen of a human's and his eyes no longer shifting and mercurial in their color.

"You should stay with him tonight." Mako offered, and Haru could sense what it cost him to say it. He swallowed the lingering kernel of resentment at how easily his pelt had been stolen from him, banished any thought of their unexpected kiss and nodded once firmly.

Dragons could seldom be parted from their treasure, and when they were every tale was very clear it was never at their own behest. He wasn't about to question Mako's unexpected generosity, just as he wasn't about to leave Rin's side until his friend woke.

Mako watched him only a moment longer before he fled, knocking against the door with uncharacteristic clumsiness.

Haru stayed, fingers brushing over his warm lips as he wondered what the hell had happened and if there were some way he could ever win his soul back.

Worse, some tiny traitorous part of him wondered if he would even want to once Mako had finished with him.

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Many thanks to my beta for the title. This was almost "Every Dragon has his (Happy) Ending". She dissuaded me. Barely :p

As always, reviews (especially concrit) are lovely!