Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 19: Fireside
North Beach - Day 8, 9:02PM
Alex, after grabbing everything last minute, stepped onto the beach Bryce had told him to meet at. His bag weighed a ton as he hefted it to his other shoulder. The only thing he hoped is that most of everything would be eaten so he wouldn't have to lug anything back with him. It seemed like a lot of food for just one night and five people.
"Alex. There you are. Seems like you're the last one." The dragon of his thoughts greeted the moment he saw him.
"Gee, I thought I was on time. Took me over an hour with your delivery bogging me down." Alex teased, hucking the stuffed bag off his back.
"You actually are. it's just that everyone else gets so excited about this that they come earlier." Bryce explained nonchalantly.
"Funny how late you're holding this little outing anyway. I thought we'd be meeting just at sunset." The human pointed out. His companion gave a little chuckle at the remark.
"It's simple, really. Now we have the beach all to ourselves. Oh, so before you go and meet everyone, I should probably warn you. There's someone here you may not approve of." The dragon advised. Now that had Alex a little offset.
"Who might that be?" He questioned, keeping a tolerant mindset just in case.
"Maverick." Was all Bryce said. It immediately and mildly annoyed the human currently rubbing his shoulder.
"And what's he doing here?" Alex grumbled, trying to stay calm.
"All things considered, it's better for him to be where I can keep an eye on him. Much better than him doing who knows what wherever he finds himself. You know what I mean?" The sitting dragon asked rhetorically. "And besides, we don't know how he'd have reacted if I invited you instead of him. Maverick's always been to my barbeques before. At least this way, I can talk to him and find out what he's up to." He finally finished. The human understood fully what he meant.
"Right. So does he know I'm here? Or that I brought the food?" He questioned. Maybe there was a chance Maverick didn't know.
"Yes, I told him. He assured me he'd keep the peace if you will. So can you for just one night?" Bryce confirmed exactly what the human irrationally feared. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"Yeah. Hell, I'll share a beer with him if you ask." He completely joked, hoping for another hearty laugh.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." The chief winked before strutting off to the crowd. A morbid realization came over Alex as he stood there: he was most likely serious.
"Bryce wait! Come back here! I was joking!" The poor human hauled it over to his prancing companion. Some hearty laughter followed as he picked up his pace. He was absolutely going to ask!
"Hey everyone! Guess who's finally here!" Bryce called out the moment he stepped around the foliage blocking their view. Alex dug into the sand, stopping right before slamming into his backside. He peered out from behind the admittedly massive flank to see all familiar faces.
"Oh, hey Alex" Zhong was the first to greet him.
"Called it. Good to see you again, Alex." Sebastian welcomed simultaneously.
"Hey." Maverick was the last, opting for something a little less friendly. The human already knew he'd be like that.
"Uh, hey guys. Anyone call a waiter-to-go?" Alex sheepishly joked, holding his bag up. A round of chuckling from everyone but Maverick fired off the first of many comedic moments.
"Alright, let's get this thing started." Bryce clapped. Everyone took a seat by a rather large pile of sandstones whilst Alex emptied out the food. "So, who shall light the fire?" The chief declared.
"I could make my own this time." Sebastian offered, gleaning a look from Zhong.
"Very subtle there, Sebastian." The olive dragon jabbed.
"Nothing subtle about it, Zhong. Your fire stunk up the whole beach last year. Made everything taste weird too." Bryce butted in. His dapper friend gasped in clear offense.
"I didn't notice any difference." Maverick tossed his two cents in. This garnered the attention of a certain trouble-hungry runner.
"Yeah, because everything tastes the same to you, Mav." Sebastian gaslit. How could their silver companion ignore a comment like that?
"I told you guys I had the flu." Zhong brought the prodding back to himself.
"I'm almost positive we got more than just your fire. I think some of your spit got in there too." Bryce fired off. Needless to say, Zhong was getting more and more annoyed by the moment.
"Because of the flu! Everything was congested, so it was hard to get anything out at all." The poor barkeep tried to defend himself.
"You're really not making this any better here." Sebastian chuckled.
"I'm just telling you assholes how it is. It wasn't even my idea anyway. You were all like 'Oh Zhong never lit the fire, he should do it!' Don't blame me for getting what you wanted!" Zhong fired back in the goofiest girly voice Alex had ever heard. He couldn't help but snort at the absurdity.
"Yeah, and we learned our lesson!" Bryce laughed heartily. By this time, Alex had finished unpacking, swiping a stone to sit on.
"Not even once, Zhong." Sebastian put him down.
"You wouldn't be complaining so much if it weren't for my flu. Maybe I should light it again and prove you wrong." Zhong declared angrily. Bryce was the first to bat that away.
"No thanks! Last year was bad enough." He denied whatever chance to be had.
"Why don't you do it, Bryce?" Maverick proposed. Alex noticed how little he actually spoke amidst this lively time. Maybe they had some sort of common ground?
"I'm not really feeling it this time." The chief shrugged. "How about Alex?" Everyone now stared at the human, who had just cracked open a beer. His stomach was already churning with all those eyes on him.
"I like that idea." The gray dragon was the first to condemn him to embarrassment.
"Yes, let's see what Alex has to offer." Zhong followed up with his verdict.
"I've never seen a human light a fire. Come on, Alex." Sebastian's was the last to screw him over.
"Looks like we have a unanimous decision. Go on, Alex. Show us what you've got." That did it. He was going to be made fun of. The human patted his pockets, praying he'd packed something that would work.
"Uh..." Nothing could be found. "I don't suppose you have any matches?" He gave a pathetic smile. Their blank stares just furthered his building nausea. Just when he thought he'd faint, roaring laughter erupted from everyone.
"Oh, you should've seen your face: priceless!" Bryce cried over his own fits. Alex buried his head in his arms.
"Yep. That was great." Sebastian added, pissing off his company even more. If he had his strength augment...
"Don't pay them any attention. They're always like this." Zhong tried to reassure him.
"I noticed." The human growled, still debating whether or not to throw Sebastian into the ocean anyway.
"Seriously though, who should light the fire?" The runner questioned once the laughter died down.
"You really want to do it, don't you Seb?" Bryce pointed out his friend's eagerness with that simple question.
"It's that obvious, isn't it." Sebastian deadpanned. At least it garnered a lighthearted smile from the dragon across from him.
"Go ahead. I'm not up for it this year. I'm not risking anything with Maverick's aim, and we've already decided Zhong isn't doing it." The chief jabbed at the two, who immediately took some offense.
"Hey!" The aforementioned dragons spouted in unison. Everyone just laughed at the action.
"We just want to have a barbeque, not set the whole beach on fire, Maverick. And Zhong: Your cooking last year said enough." The stocky dragon addressed them with even more offense.
"Lighting the beach up would be pretty metal, though." Alex thought aloud. Everyone's attention immediately snapped to him.
"Don't tempt him. Anyway, Sebastian's fire always makes the food so crisp and smoky. I love that about it. Any objections?" The resulting silence said it all. "Then there we have it. Master of Ceremony, if you please?"
Sebastian bowed with a curtsey and went to light the bonfire. In mere seconds, one was roaring practically out of nowhere. It honestly surprised Alex to see these dragons actually breathing fire.
"Fantastic. Well done, Sebastian." Bryce paid his compliment to the runner, who gave him a simple grin and nod. "Alright everyone. Pick your poison."
The dragons separated from him and Alex to grab their meals. The moment they were far enough, he broke the silence.
"You know, I'm pretty surprised that little bag of yours managed to hold everything. It doesn't look all that sturdy." The chief jabbed.
"Funny. So why did you ask me to get algae of all things?" Alex completely disregarded the minor attack.
"Oh yeah. That was meant for Naomi. She and some others had to cancel due to their schedules. Did you get something for yourself? I know some of this stuff seems strange to get." Bryce replied, mild concern plaguing his normally handsome features.
"Yeah, I did. It's the poultry off to the side. I may steal some of the other stuff and make a nice sandwich." The smaller male commented on the vegetables and cheese. He made absolutely sure it was the good stuff just for this.
"Well watch the cheese. That's all Zhong's thing. Now that I think about it, maybe it was just that damned stuff that made everything so bad last time." The larger thought aloud. Unfortunately for him, the subject of his insult heard it all.
"Oh shut up! Else I'll force feed you some!" The offended dragon called from the table that had been set up prior.
"No thanks! Keep your cheese to yourself, please! Now where was I... Ah, right. I personally go for all meat. Sebastian mixes it with veggies and Maverick, he just eats whatever can fit in his muzzle." Bryce rattled off. It was at that moment that Zhong joined them. His meal was already sizzling away on the ripping hot stones.
"Get this, Alex. A few years ago, a sandstone managed to hide between two slabs of meat he got. He never even noticed and kept on munching. The crunching that was heard that night." He shuddered at the mere mention. This got Alex feeling like his teeth were being raked over some gravel as well.
"Yeah, but that was with Bryce's cooking. I couldn't even tell a difference." Maverick finally joined as well. The human and runner who was close behind couldn't help but crack up.
"My god, is his cooking really that bad?" Alex asked between bouts of laughter.
"Yes, he practically turned the food into charcoal." This one jab turned the squawking laughter into wheezing instead.
"Why you!" Bryce playfully yelled. He tried to get the two offenders in headlocks to no avail. They were just too fast for him.
Zhong and Maverick managed to get everyone calmed down and sent Alex off to grab his food. He tossed the entirety of his pack of white meat on as he plopped down on a log. The fragrance was really something to be admired.
"So Bryce, how's that stint with Emera going?" Sebastian was the first to pick up another conversation. The particular topic piqued the human's interest. Last he saw of the minister was when she sentenced Bryce to his odd punishment. He picked up something from her that sent him mad.
"Kind of weird. I'm not even really doing anything. It's mainly just following her around and standing guard in her office. But that's not the worst part either. I think I found out exactly why she wanted me to do this in the first place." The chief motioned along with his speech, probably to exaggerate the dullness of his new job.
"Do enlighten us, then." Zhong crossed his arms with a deadpan look. The human was wondering why exactly he was so skeptical.
"It's kind of embarrassing." Was all the poor dragon said.
"Well now you definitely have to say it." Sebastian pressured. What could even have those guys so worked up anyway? Alex couldn't even ponder this for a moment.
"Alright, alright. The real reason Emera wants me around so bad is that she has the hots for me." Alex's heart skipped a beat just then. His once peaceful thoughts contorted into those of gore and torture. They consumed him deeply, with next to no chance of escape.
Groans of disbelief emanated from every member of the group. Not like it was acknowledged much anyway. Bryce was too busy trying to cool the flames he just sparked.
"Hold on a second. Let me explain before you go groaning about it. You all know how she is in public, right? Well as soon as it's just us in the same room, she's a completely different person. It's almost surreal." The dragon finally got a chance to defend himself. It... did little good for him.
"I mean, I get the whole alternate personas thing. Still though." Sebastian fired back.
"Of course, Bryce, just going out with a high ranking politician isn't enough in your stories. She also isn't allowed to resist your manly allure." Zhong doubled up on his teasing. Alex could feel the heat getting to him. He cracked open a beer and drank deeply.
"It's true, I tell you! I'm not even interested anyway. She was never my type, A, and B: public or private, her general personality sucks ass." Bryce threw out anything he had to get them to believe.
"What was that about sucking ass?" Sebastian jabbed smugly. Another beer was cracked open, garnering Maverick's attention.
"Oh shut up. I can just stop before it gets really bad if no one wants to believe me." The chief threatened. And yet, it still did nothing.
"I'll confirm it." Alex's dead voice violently snapped everyone out of it. "She's horrible when she doesn't think others are listening." The dragons surrounding him gave him some very weird looks. It wouldn't be the first time someone did that either.
"Right... Well Bryce, why don't you tell us more. What about you does she like so much?" Sebastian dared to ask. If anything, it was to try and regain control of the conversation.
"What's not to like about me?" Bryce proclaimed proudly.
"We get it, dude. Just change the subject already." Zhong had had enough. All he wanted was a normal conversation. Yet he gets this along with a human destroying a six pack.
"I swear on my mom it's true." The chief was serious for once in the entire outing. He even had the look Alex knew from the investigations.
"Then give us some details. What's she like in private?" The only runner pressed. All he wanted was some information to close this case.
"This all began innocently enough. But when we were alone, she started getting all weird after a while. She wasn't even remotely subtle about it either. One time the words 'cavity search' came up, from her." Bryce exposed. Annoyed utterances came from everyone with all that being out there now.
"Alex, hand me a beer. I can't even listen to this anymore." Zhong borderline demanded from the human. One was tossed his way with enough force to knock him back. Bryce going on really didn't help the mounting disinterest in listening.
"And then she was suddenly like 'Oh my back is so stiff would you mind giving me a massage? You look like you have the proper strength.' She had me fucking floored." His story really wasn't helping the poor human. He had just polished off his fourth drink, going back for yet another.
"Did you do it, then?" Sebastian continued.
"Absolutely not. I told her I didn't have the dexterity for it, and that's a fact." Bryce fired off.
"Who'd have thought." The runner commented. The sound of plastic being crushed pierced the air amidst the argument.
"Tell me you don't believe him, Seb." Zhong groaned.
"I'm not taking sides here. I'm only listening." Thankfully, Sebastian's answer seemed to calm him a bit.
"Her wanting a massage from you hardly constitutes her wanting you though, Bryce." The barkeep now decided to step in.
"Then you're going to hate this. Earlier today, she told me how nice it would be for a child to grow up with two leaders for parents." The chief exposed yet another nasty secret. Alex is now seething behind his dead mask. The details of Emera's imaginary murder were becoming more gruesome with each passing moment.
"You know, I don't think even Bryce could come up with that on his own." Sebastian commented. It seemed his opinion was swayed.
"I still don't buy it." Zhong took a swig of his drink. A sixth beer had just been started by that point, catching Sebastian's attention as well.
"Ugh. You still believe me, right Alex?" Bryce turned to the human.
"I do. She had this... look yesterday that set off all kinds of alarm bells." Alex growled, setting his beverage down.
"See? He even has verbal proof I'm not screwing around with you." The dragon motioned to him with both forepaws to emphasize his point.
"I'd say it's the alcohol talking. He did just polish off an entire pack of beer by himself, and I have witnesses." Zhong argued, gesturing to Sebastian and Maverick.
"Piss off, Zhong. You don't even know if I'm drunk or not." Alex spat, through with everything and beyond.
"Then prove it. Walk around this fire without stumbling." The barkeep fired back. Getting up, the human did ballet around the bonfire instead. The dance itself was more than enough to shut him up.
"Hah. Talk about overkill. Now what do you guys think I should do about this?" Bryce brought the attention back to himself.
"Nothing, because you and Alex made this whole thing up." Zhong immediately spouted. If anything, he was persistent.
"If I do nothing, I'll probably end up being forced to marry her or something." The chief shot back.
"At least your story would be credible then." The barkeep smugly stated.
"Why not just tell her to stop?" Sebastian finally butted in again, much to everyone's relief.
"That's not as easy as it sounds. Even though I'm chief, she's still higher than me. So there's nothing I can do to stop her from making me her personal bodyguard. If I tell her off too strongly, she could make my professional life a living hell, as Alex put it once." Bryce shot the idea down. It would be nice in a perfect world.
"I see. So this is something that requires careful deliberation and subtlety. Not exactly your strong suits there." The runner not-so-subtly jabbed. Alex was minorly offended at that. Did he not know about the models?
"That's why I'm asking you all, not that you're any better!" The chief called out every one of them half-jokingly.
"Maybe you should play along for a while and see what happens. Then when the time's right, you strike." Maverick finally gave some sort of response. It was getting awkward with him just sitting there.
"And strike refers to what, exactly?" Zhong queried bluntly. That was the most worrying part to Alex.
"I am not indulging her in any way, shape or form. Screw that and get it out of here. Ugh... This kind of thing will cause an uproar if I dare include it in my memoir." The poor dragon groaned. It was pitiful, seeing him in such a bind.
"Who would even read that anyway?" Sebastian piped up once again.
"I know at least one person who can, and will." Bryce deadpanned. "What do you think I should do, Alex?" The attention turned right back to the human.
"I still object to him answering anything." Zhong butted in before he could even open his mouth.
"You want me to dance around this bonfire again just to shut you up?" Alex awaited any form of answer before continuing. "Good. Now, I'd say you just tell her how you really feel. No sugar-coating it either." He finally gave his honest opinion. If the chief ran with it, he may finally have him to himself.
"Are you even sure about that?" Bryce questioned. Brilliant, just brilliant.
"Look at it this way. It'd be dangerous if you string her along like Maverick suggested. She'll be even angrier when she finds out anyway, rather than if you were just upfront with her. It's better to just put your foot down and get it over with." Alex explained. Hopefully, that would help.
"Good point. I guess I have a solution at least." The dragon concluded.
"And now I have a couple of stupid questions, if none of you mind." The following silence held his answer. "So dating here seems to be nearly identical to dating in Terra. Are interspecies relationships even encouraged? And is there ever any crossbreeding?" That was it. The questions were out there, now to see if anyone would address them.
"I'm sure this will go over swimmingly in this group." Zhong muttered under his breath.
"Heh. Crossbreeding, that's funny." Sebastian chuckled to himself.
"Well there isn't any of that. It just doesn't work that way. Besides, I thought you already knew where hatchlings came from." Bryce finally answered. That was one of them down.
"Terra hasn't had proper dragons in almost three hundred years. I didn't want to make any assumptions here." Alex batted away the jab.
"There are a lot of interspecies couples though, to answer your first question." Zhong finally provided some proper input.
"And if they want to have a kid. I assume it's just adoption or a surrogate parent?" The human queried.
"Exactly. Much like, say, a homosexual couple." The barkeep added.
"Emera totally wants my children though." Bryce butted in again, stealing the attention away.
"And I take it you'd rather not have any of that." Alex pressed.
"Heck no! I'm not even remotely ready. I wouldn't know the first thing to do with a hatchling. I'd probably end up breaking its neck by accident or something like that." The chief cried. The human immediately cut 'meet daughter' out of his mental checklist.
"So how about you, Alex? Do you 'have the hots' for anyone here, as Bryce puts it?" Sebastian asked. The human remained silent. Like hell if he was going to say anything about who he fell for in front of them. He'd have to keep it generalized if he planned to answer.
"I mean, yeah, but I don't know how it'd be viewed back home. Terran dragons were never sentient so..." He trailed off.
"Technically speaking: you dating one of us is no different from Sebastian dating Emera, for example." Zhong commented. That finally helped Alex's murderous thoughts subside a little.
"Hey, I'm not getting between the beautiful thing she and Bryce have going on." The runner shot back. And now the murder continues.
"Do whatever you like with her as long as you're here. Knock yourself out." The aforementioned chief stated half-jokingly.
"You know, you and Alex have been spending a lot of time together." Sebastian pointed out. The human and dragon glanced at each other awkwardly.
"Screw off, Sebastian. He's just..." Alex trailed off. The officer's smug grin grew even wider.
"I'm not hearing a 'no'." He stated cockily.
"So what? He's cool in my book, and that's why we hang out. Does anyone have any objections to that?" Bryce finally stepped in. The human blessed him and his defense. A collective 'No' from the crowd finally got that topic off hand.
"Good. Now I think the food's ready, so let's grab a plate." Everyone started filing over to the table to grab their fill. Alex hesitated when he went for his own. The heat radiating off the food was still relatively intense. He grabbed his karambit and speared each item onto the plate.
"How're you holding up?" Bryce's unmistakable voice sent a shiver down his spine.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Alex refused to turn around, opting instead to assemble that sandwich.
"Really? You don't remember the amount of beers you had tonight?" The dragon chuckled quietly.
"I prefer not to think about it." The human trailed off. "So what about you? Everyone asked about me crushing on someone, so I just want to know for myself." He mentally slapped himself. Maybe he was inebriated after all.
"Rather bold question for someone you've only known for a week." Bryce countered. Now finished preparing his food, the human turned back around.
"I've told you about my past love life. Don't you think it's fair I ask yours?" He fired back.
"Well if you need to know, no. I'm not one to stick with anyone for long anyway." The chief explained nonchalantly. Alex deflated at that statement. He was reeling at Bryce being one of those people.
"Oh." The human said, trying to hide his disappointment. "We should probably head back to the others before our stuff gets cold." With that, he and a suspicious Bryce sat back with everyone else. One bite into the sandwich stunned him.
"Yep. Crisp and smoky. Good job, Sebastian." Bryce gulped down a rather sizeable hunk of meat with the following compliment.
"Don't mention it." The runner said between bites.
"Seriously, this is great." Zhong added before tossing a piece of cheese into his maw. Another devilish grin spread across Alex's features. He grabbed a cheese crisp he made and discreetly took aim.
"I still don't get how you can eat that chee- Ack!" Bryce yelped as something sailed into his mouth. The unmistakable taste of dairy hit his taste buds, forcing him to hack and spit onto the sand below. Everyone else cocked a brow as it continued.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I landed that!" Alex wheezed with laughter. The dragon next to him shot him a glare that could break stone.
"What the heck did you do to him?" Sebastian finally spoke up.
"I fed him some cheese." Was all the human said. The other two looked back to their poor chief. He had picked a stone from the pile, and was scraping his tongue with it in a comical manner. They looked between each other and him before joining the fray.
"Why are you doing this to me, Alex?" Bryce whined. All it did was send the aforementioned human into hysterics.
"Because pain is funny!" He managed between bouts of laughter.
"Being fair, we jab at everyone and everything here." Sebastian managed to calm himself enough to speak again. The entire group looked ready to jump on their friend again at any moment.
"Even you." Maverick, who had been idly snacking, finally made himself known again. "I don't even mind the cheese." He jabbed further, popping a crisp Alex made into his mouth with a light 'crunch'.
"You wouldn't mind eating the whole bed of stones and everything on it either." Bryce fired back after washing the awful taste out.
"At least I'm not scared of trying something different." Was all the gray dragon said.
"Hey, I do too. I picked at least five different kinds of meat this time." The chief defended, holding up his plate. It wasn't like there was much on it to emphasize his point anyway.
"Case in point." Maverick popped another cheese crisp. Alex wanted to add a couple of cents in, but held his tongue. The conversation and banter finally started to die down as the food dwindled. Checking his watch, the human noticed it had only been an hour. Time surprisingly flew by for the outing; something that usually doesn't happen when he socializes.
"I should get going now." Zhong was the first to break the silence.
"Already?" Bryce cocked a brow. He'd assumed his friend would stay longer.
"My babysitter can only stay so long, you know." The olive dragon stood up and brushed himself off.
"Yeah, I should head off too. You know I start early tomorrow." Sebastian stood as well, grabbing a bottle of water for the road.
"I guess it was a good time at least. How about you, Mav?" The chief asked with a little hope he'd stick around.
"Looks like this party's over anyway." The aforementioned dragon shrugged, dusting some errant sand off his flank.
"Don't you all get lost in the dark, then." Bryce snarked caringly. It was a nice sentiment that they were all so close that this was just regular conversation. The trio all bid their respective farewells, leaving just the human and dragon by themselves...
'By ourselves.' Alex contemplated, the perverted thoughts returning in full. He cursed his filthy mind for thinking like that about someone who considered him a friend. He was so busy hating himself that he didn't notice the muffled footfalls behind him until a large paw landed on his shoulder.
"And now that we're alone..." The dragon's hot breath grazed his neck, sending chills up his spine. "Remember what you said at the bar?" The thoughts got so much worse within the next second or two before it finally hit.
"Oh no..." The human's face went white. That torture was not what he wanted at all. He prayed god would help him.
"Oh yes." Bryce smiled menacingly. In a flash, he snagged Alex's shirt, dragging him past the gentle embers and towards the ocean. The moment his victim saw the rolling waves, his eyes went agape in horror. Alex feared the sea for good reason: crustaceans. Those horrible sea bugs creeped him out beyond comparison. It didn't matter what color or how 'cute' others thought they were. They were walking skeletons and it terrified him to even think about it.
"Bryce wait, we can talk this out! Please don't! Anything but the water!" He shrieked to no avail. Nobody could hear him out here, and his captor lacked empathy for the time being.
"For glory!" Bryce cried as he launched the human several feet into the air. Said human flailed about in a screaming fit before plunging below the surface. Something hard hit his hand and bolted across his back. Alex shrieked and paddled as hard as he could to shore, where a certain hysterical dragon greeted him.
The moment Bryce saw the human emerge from the water, he got a bad gut feeling. Though that didn't stop him from laughing his ass off. His friend was sopping wet and it was hilarious, crazed look or not. All that stopped when he heard rapid footsteps and a building yell. One glance up revealed a glowing Alex hurling himself into him. The next thing he knew, he was pinned down and unable to move.
Alex had no clue what happened. The moment he escaped the clutches of that monstrosity in the sea, things went black. The next thing he knew, he was on top of Bryce a few meters away from the bonfire.
'On top of Bryce...' Embarrassment crept in as the human's cheeks flushed red. He tumbled off the dragon in an attempt to escape any awkwardness.
"Damn, never knew humans were that strong." The dragon muttered.
"I uh... I didn't break anything, did I?" Alex managed through his mortification. He still couldn't believe that just happened.
"Nah, I think you're fine. You just caught me off guard is all. I didn't know they made you that strong." Bryce admired the feat. It was clear he himself was still reeling.
"I just hope we're even so this doesn't turn into a prank war." The brunette groaned. That was exactly the last thing he'd ever want.
"I think your face more than made up for it. That look of embarrassment is pretty good." Bryce had that smarmy look again. And how Alex just let it stay. Whatever left this in the past.
"Fine by me." Was all the human said. He just wanted to leave this behind.
"So how about we get this mess cleaned up?" The dragon gestured to the unfortunate amount of trash that was strewn about.
"One second." Alex took a moment to remove his shirts. There was no way he was letting those stick to him.
"Oh, so now it's a striptease? Hah. If only I had-"
"Shut up!" Alex cut Bryce off before he could dare. More embarrassment would just kill him outright. "I'm not staying in the clothes you soaked. Just be glad you won't ever have to deal with wet socks." He added. God, if only he knew the cardinal sin he just committed.
"Whatever you say. Come on and help me pick this up. After you strip down for me, that is." The dragon flirtatiously teased. His companion decided to hold his tongue for now. Once rid of his sticky garments, he began helping clean up.
"Geez, this is a lot for just five people." Alex commented, plucking a plastic cup from near the now-dead fire.
"Never underestimate the laziness of partygoers. That's my advice for the day." Bryce shot from a few meters away. The can he dragged over was filling up surprisingly quickly, considering their speed.
"Maybe we could shoot stuff in like basketballs. Help kill time." The brunette proposed. It seemed his friend was considering it for just a moment.
"How about a story instead. I'd rather not have to pick missed shots up twice." The chief counter-offered. Yeah, that seemed more reasonable than toying with trash.
"Well, if you have one." Alex nonchalantly shrugged. A time waster was a time waster and he wasn't about to complain.
"Yeah. So this one's about my scar if you're interested." Bryce waited for any objection.
"I'd rather not hear if you're not comfortable with telling." The human piped up. The last thing he wanted was just that. Discomfort from a good friend. Despite being thrown in the ocean, he still liked the guy.
"It's fine. At least it'll kill time. Plus, these suckers make me look extra intimidating. No one's going to mess with the big, rugged Chief of Police. You're probably thinking I got them from some crazy near-death case, but that's only true for one. The other's completely different..."