No ownage of Draco happening here. Unfortunately.

Helping Out


"Rachel!!"

"Ack!" Her heart nearly stopping from fright, Kaeli bolted upright where she was sprawled over the couch and promptly fell off of it, dimly aware of Draco's loud 'oof!' as she landed on him. The last thing she remembered was Mel Gibson screaming 'freeeedoommm!' and Erica muttering how it should be illegal to kill off nummy characters, and as she blinked at the ceiling from her not-so-comfortable poisition on a dazed Draco, she figured that she must have slept on the couch all night.

The cause of her rude awakening raced into the room then, not even pausing to ask if they were alright as the flustered human grabbed the collar of the her t-shirt and shook her violently, her yell shrill and panicked.

"Rachel! I mean, Kaeli, I mean, oh hell! You have to help me! Tony just called in sick and it's the day before Halloween! The shop's gonna be packed! I need someone to come help me!"

Dangerously close to throwing up, Kaeli was extremely relieved when Draco snatched her out of a babbling Erica's iron grasp, and she clung to him weakly for a little bit until she was fairly certain that she wasn't going to do anything unsightly. "'Rica, I didn't understand a word you just said."

Huffing, Erica planted her fists on her hips and glared down at the elf, speaking like one would to a small child. "Tony, my helper at the store, is sick. It's the day before Halloween. The shop is going to be packed. I can't do it by myself. I volunteer you to help me."

Draco frowned. "What about me?"

"You're a big dragon, you can stay home by yourself. Kaeli, come on, we have to get you some more presentable clothes."

She groaned pitifully as Erica grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet, pulling her towards the stairs. "But I don't wanna!"

"Too bad!"

"I came here to help you with the demon, not with psycho shopping fiends!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Ericaaaaa!"

Draco rolled his eyes as he listened to them stomp upstairs and yawned as he stretched out on his back, tail lashing slightly as he idly scratched at his chest. Rapid footsteps coming down the stairs moments later made him right himself and rise to his feet, chuckling at his Rider that was still being pulled around by Erica.

"Let. Go!" Snarling, Kaeli wrenched her arm free and glared at her friend, irritably tugging at the hip-hugging blue jeans and the green v-necked sweater she now wore. "'Rica, have you forgotten that I'm an Elf?! I can't go out there!"

"Not looking like that, no."

"Oooh no! No! You are not putting a spell on me!"

"Oh, how the tables have turned," Draco chuckled, earning himself a nasty glare that only served to make him laugh harder. "Now, Kaeli, it can't be that bad."

"Exactly," Erica grinned. "Now hold still."

Grumbling, Kaeli folded her arms over her chest and fumed, eyeing her friend warily as Erica rose a hand in her direction.

"Okay.... um.... gotta make up a spell so...." Taking a breath to steel herself, Erica closed her eyes and concentrated. "My best friend, Rachel. I think she's tops. Make her look human, so she doesn't make the customer's hearts stop."

Draco blinked. "That...."

"....was horrible!" Kaeli muttered sourly. "You don't seriously expect that to work, do you?"

"Actually," Erica grinned as she pulled her friend over to the hallway mirror. "It did."

"Okay, this.... is going to take some getting used to," Kaeli whispered as she stared into a face that didn't retain any inkling of her Elven heritage or of her shared Lifesource with Draco. What once was lush coppery hair with golden streaks was a plain brown, her vibrant green eyes a calm hazel. It was like staring at a stranger. "I still can't believe that crappy spell worked."

"Hey! No where does it say that I have to be the world's greatest poet to cast spells!"

"It should," Kaeli grumbled under her breath as she walked over to Draco, seeing him hesitate a little before he stepped forward and nuzzled her shoulder reassuringly, turning so that she could lean up against his shoulder and loosely curl her arms around his neck. "Will you be alright?"

"I've been taking care of myself longer than you've been alive, little dreamer," he chuckled as he twisted to met her worried gaze, inwardly missing her more familiar appearance. "I can manage for a day."

She sighed and closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against the side of his arched neck, tightening her hold on him as she did so. I don't want to go out there....

Frowning at the abrupt change in her, Draco wrapped her up in his right wing and sent a glance at Erica, growling softly when she threw her arms into the air in exasperation and stomped outside, slamming the door behind her. Once he was sure they were alone, he carefully settled himself down onto his haunches and rose his right claw to lightly rub her back, smiling warmly as he felt her touch his chest, stroking the scales that covered his half-heart. "Kaelianna. There's nothing for you to be frightened of. You're stronger than you were three years ago."

"No I'm not. Not when I'm in this time," she whispered, shivering a little as she listened to his heart beat, her own pulse in perfect sync with his. He didn't say anything in reply as he brushed his cheek against the side of her head and pulled her a little closer, the contact giving her the reassurance that she needed. Their heartbeats seemed to get louder then, the inhuman rhythm seemingly taking over her thoughts until it was all she knew. Warmth flooded through her then, accompanied by a torrent of emotions that pushed her insecurities aside, obliterating them as if they were nothing but wisps of air.

'My strength to purify your weakness. Remember, Kaeli?'

She jerked in shock at the gentle rumble that echoed through her thoughts, and would have fallen over had Draco not steadied her, his gaze dancing with amusement as she looked at him with wide eyes. "H-how..."

'There are still some powers of the heart that I have not taught you, little dreamer.' Smiling, he lightly rested a talon over her heart, switching back to more normal methods of speaking as he did so. "It isn't something that can be easily done or learned, this speaking through the heart. But as I once told you, the heart does not only relay pain, but emotions as well. You have nothing to fear, Kaelianna, after all," he paused and playfully winked at her, knowing that it would lighten her mood, "you have the power of a dragon at your disposal! Who else can boast that?"

The last bit had the desired effect, and Kaeli shook her head a little as she chuckled. "You're right. Hell, you're always right.... know-it-all."

Grinning at the teasing nickname, he lightly pricked her with his talons while using his right wing-claw to tickle her, laughing when she yelped and wriggled out of his hold. "Go with, Erica, little dreamer. You'll be fine. I bet you'll be so busy you won't even notice the time passing. I, meanwhile, will be lying here and - what did you call it? - rotting my brain with daytime soap operas?"

She snickered and nodded. "Yeah. Lucky you." On impluse, she hugged him again and lightly kissed his snout, hearing his embarrassed rumble as his cheeks darkened. "Thank you."

"Anytime, little dreamer. Anytime. Now, you'd better hurry, I think Erica's nigh ready to drag you out of the house."

"Huh? Oh, crap. I forgot." Grimacing at the reminder, she hurriedly ran over to the entranceway and pulled on one of Erica's spare pair of sneakers, hopping from foot to foot as she did so. "I'll try to convince her to get something good for supper, like steak or something, okay?" An annoyed yell from outside made her roll her eyes, and she shot a mischievous grin towards the dragon as she swung the front door open and headed out to join her impatient friend. "I'll see you later, Draco!"

He chuckled softly as he listened to them bicker for a moment before leaving in that odd metal thing Erica called a 'truck'. Even now, with the distance widening between them, he could still sense the elf's emotions, an after effect of having momentarily bound them so closely by speaking to her through the heart. It wasn't something lightly done, either. Usually, such intimate contact was simply not done, for while it enabled the two holders of the heart to hear one another's thoughts, it also left them completely open in every sense of the term - a dangerous position in any situation. Especially since it was so easy to read each other's feelings, thus making it a true 'baring of the soul'.

But once again, he had found himself doing everything in his power to protect her. A chuckle rumbled out of him as he remembered various times where she had sought such reassurance from him, bringing about an almost instinctual urge to care for her. There were times where he knew he treated her like a parent dragon would a hatchling, her smaller size constantly reminding him that, unlike him, she could be easily harmed. Not that he dared to tell her such things. She may have been small in stature, but her temper was something that even he didn't want to face.

All in all, he still thanked the stars that she had been sent to him. Without her presence during the ugliness of three years before, he knew that things would not have turned out as they did. There would have been a victory, but at price that he no longer wished to pay.

Berating himself for even thinking of such dark things, Draco made hs way back into the living room and took the liberty to haul the cushions off of the couch, setting them on the floor as an impromtu mattress before dropping down onto them, idly wondering if he'd ever be able to get used to sleeping on just grass and dirt after these few days of luxury.

"Well, well, well. Look who got knocked off his pedestal. Man, you're ruining my gig here! She didn't even feed me!"

Draco blinked slowly and looked up from his inspection of the tv remote to look at the cat that was sitting a little ways away from his left haunch. "Why do you only talk when the others aren't around?"

If it had been possible, the cat would have smacked himself in the forehead. "Duh. Ta make you look nuts to get the attention away from you. Unlike you, I have to work at getting the girls to fawn over me. I can't just give them a look and have 'em cuddle up all nice and close, y'know!"

"Excuse me?!"

"What? Oh, don't tell me you didn't notice. You show up there and wham! The cat's eattin' kibble whilethe lizard gets freshly cooked chicken! Kibble! Do you know what that stuff tastes like?!"

"Er...."

"That's what I thought. Bad enough you got the new one attached you ya, did you have to make my Erica go gaga over ya too?"

"Gaga? Wait, your Erica?"

"Boy. For someone who keeps saying he's smart, you sure don't act like it."

"Watch it, furball. You're flammable."

"Ooo. The lizard used a big word. I'm shakin'. Really."

Seriously beginning to wonder how the feline's previous owner hadn't strangled this insolent creature to death, Draco shifted again and quickly reached out to 'sense' Kaeli's presence, the familiar warmth of her soul calming his rising anger. "Look here, I'm sorry if my being here is.... inconvenient, but it isn't as if I had much of a choice. I couldn't very well let Kaeli come back to his barbaric time by herself."

Bright yellow eyes widened in mixed surprise and insult. "Barbaric? Us? Hello, we have indoor plumbing!"

"Perhaps. But your air is foul, the earth polluted and scarred with roads. And I refuse to even begin to speak of the state of the waterways and forests! The people here do not live in harmony with the land, they destroy it!"

"But it's indoor plumbing!"

Draco sighed heavily and rose a claw to massage his already aching temple. "This isn't going to be the peaceful day I was hoping for...."

~*~

"Good Goddess, how can you do this every day?" Kaeli groaned as she finished moving another inventory box, then leaned against the pile, wiping the back of her right hand across her forehead, puffing out a breath to force her hair out of her eyes.

"Practice," Erica smiled, patting her friend on the arm as she brushed past her and moved to stand behind the cash, having seen a small group of teenagers heading in that direction. "Practice and hired help."

"I'm not hired help. Actually, does this mean I get paid?"

"I'll deduct it from your rent."

"Oh joy. I'm sure, Draco will be thrilled."

"Don't get snippy. Besides, it's not like it's hard work. It could be worse. I could be getting a shipment of books."

She groaned in mock pain at that. "You've made your point, thank you very much."

Erica gave her friend a dazzling smile as she tallied up the prices for the teens. "You're welcome!"

Grumbling, Kaeli opened one of the boxes and peered into it, a single eyebrow arching upwards when she saw the numerous clear boxes that contained various semi-precious stones. "This is worse than books. No wonder it was so heavy!" Shaking her head, she resigned herself to another four hours of work and bent to her task, unpacking the boxes one by one, pausing every now and again to admire the colour of the rocks, a slight smile gracing her lips when she recognised some of them from what she had seen in Draco's main cave back home.

Humming one of the songs that Draco usually sang when he was in a good mood, she went about placing the fist sized pieces of amethyst and quartz onto the main counter, knowing that since the store was presently empty that Erica would price the items and place them on the appropriate shelf. At the bottom of the box, was books, which didn't really surprise her all that much, and Kaeli gave her friend a look as she unpacked them, scowling at the chuckle that Erica failed to smother. "Could be worse, huh?"

"I didn't know!" Erica laughed, avoiding the other woman's gaze as she went through her order list and ticked off the items she had received, pausing to put little price stickers on the stones before setting them aside to shelve later on. "So, what's it like, living with...." she paused as someone entered the store and winked. "Him?"

Kaeli rolled her eyes. "Will your eternal meddling ever end?"

"No. No it won't."

"We help out where we can. We....uh.... 'travel' a lot...."

Erica snickered at the horrible answer. "You suck."

"Oh, go to hell! How am I expected to talk about...." Kaeli paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Him when we're in public?! It's not like dragons are common place!"

"Alright, alright, you have a point. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Hmpft."

"Oh, don't be like that. You know I didn't mean anything by it. Well, not unless you're the jealous type."

Kaeli's right eye twitched.

"Or not," Erica murmured quickly, smiling innocently when Kaeli glared at her. "Well I didn't mean it like that. Get your mind out of the gutter, girl."

"If it's there it's your fault," Kaeli shot back as she finished unpacking the books, then demolished the cardboard box, setting it aside as she went about unpacking the second. The soflty tingling of the front door drew her gaze then, and she blinked as a teenage boy ran into the store, his breath coming in heavy pants.

"Miss Johnston! I know I said I couldn't come, but I knew you'd need the...." Tony trailed off as his gaze settled on the woman who was unpacking the new shipment and blinked. "....help? Y-you hired someone else?"

"Huh? Oh no. Not at all. Tony, this is Rachel, my best-friend. She's just helping me out for today," Erica explained with a smile, then looked at him worriedly. "Shouldn't you be home in bed? You're awfully pale."

"You replaced me?"

"Only for one day. She's just visiting," Erica said as she walked around the counter and rested a hand on his forehead. "Dear Gods, you're burning up! You should be at home, resting! Your mother's going to kill you. Rach, get him some water will you? I'm gonna call his mother."

"Sure thing, Rica," Kaeli grinned, steering Tony over to a chair and then going to retrieve a bottle of water from the small bar fridge in the back. "Here ya go. I think Rica has some Tylenol around here somewhere. You want a couple?"

"No," he muttered coldly. "I'm fine."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Kid, don't worry. I'm not here to take your job. I'm just helping 'Rica out this once."

"Her name is Erica," he grumbled, eyeing her warily.

"I've known her a lot longer than you," she chuckled. "I get to call her 'Rica. You can call her Miss Johnston." She turned back to her task of unpacking the boxes as she spoke, glancing at him again when he gave a snort of derision. "What?"

"You're doing it wrong," Tony told her, almost condescendingly. "You're supposed to check off the items on the shipping list and then give them to Miss Johnston to price."

"We're doing it a different way today," Kaeli replied, not liking his attitude. A chill wracked it's way down her spine then, and she hugged herself as the skin on her arms went up in goosebumps, her gaze cutting to Tony as he shot her a particularly suspicious glare. Damn, what's with this kid? Hiding her unease, she turned her attention back to her task, her hair curtaining forward to hide her expression from him as she glanced at him, not liking the look he was giving her.

"Okay, kiddo, your mom's on her way," Erica said cheerfully as she rejoined them, completely missing the glare that Tony sent Kaeli. "I really appreciate you coming in, Tony, but your health is more important, okay? Believe me, I can handle the store on my own for a little while."

He looked like he was going to argue, then thought better of it. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered, downcast. Sighing, he stood and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go wait outside. Mom'll be here soon."

"What's with him?" Kaeli asked once the teen had left the shop. "He acts like this job is his lifeline."

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing grand. I think he has a small crush on me, nothing special."

"I'd say it's more than a small crush," she muttered, sending a wary glance after the boy. "He's a little.... odd."

"And of course, you would be the judge of what's odd."

"Erica, I'm serious. There's something going on with that kid. He gives me the creeps."

"You're just being anti-social."

"Need I remind you about the demon that came after you? That kid's got power, Erica."

Erica's brown gaze turned cold as she glared at her friend. "You expect me to believe that Tony's behind the demon? Kaeli, that's absurd! He's just a kid!"

"And how many kids have a crush on you to the point that they get jealous at the smallest things?"

That made her pause. "He was jealous?"

"Insanely. If looks could kill I'd be lying dead on the floor," Kaeli muttered. "I'm not saying that he did it, but I'm saying that to me, he's acting really suspicious."

Her friend sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. "Maybe you're right...."

Kaeli sighed and reached out to lay a hand on the redheads shoulder. "Look, I'm not saying that you're completely wrong. I'm not infalliable. Maybe you're right. I just don't want to see you get hurt again, 'Rica." As she spoke, she lightly trailed her fingers over the bulk of the bandage on her friends arm. "You're important to me, I don't want to lose you."

"I know," Erica smiled, raising her gaze to Kaeli's. "I know. Let's save this conversation for later. Maybe Draco will have something to add to it."

"Deal. In the meantime, let's just try to survive the rest of this day, because I see a group of six people our way."

"Highschool just let out," Erica smirked as she headed back behind the counter. "Batten down the hatches, it's gonna be a long afternoon."





TBC