Nettle
"Should we check up on her?" Kain asked after we've been sitting on a bald velvet sofa in the tiny reception of our B&B for more than half an hour. I got him, my tummy is growling too, but I didn't look up from my phone when I answered.
"Nah, I write to her that we grab some food at "The breakfast club" she can join us, when she's done." I quickly typed, rose and stretched. I'd rather we went by ourselves, than interrupted Mist's... rutting and had to wait for her to shower, dress and meditate. Kain stood up as well, dressed in royal blue hoodie and dark blue jeans shorts he looked so normal. Just another handsome teenager in a world full of beautiful people.
I grabbed my bottle green bomber jacket from the sofa and stuffed my phone to a tiny metallic black purse. It was quite far off but we've decided to walk. Walking felt very european. I caught the view of us in the glass doors on the other side of the street we were crossing. In sneakers, short red ruffle skirt, tight black body with "baby" written with golden letters across my breasts I looked so different. I loved it, I felt different too, carefree and happy. Then I looked sideways at Kain, tall with broad shoulders, he moved with confidence and grace of a lion, or should I say a dragon? He must have noticed pride in my look because he put an arm across my shoulders and said. "You look very fine yourself today Miss Jones. My pleasure to accompany you."
I smiled but had none equally witty answer ready, so I just kept walking, enjoying... the freedom. Freedom of not having to be anywhere on time, unless I wanted to. Freedom of doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. Freedom of being with my friends. My thoughts strayed to Ember and her choice to run Talon by herself. I only met her shortly but she seemed to love freedom more than anyone else, even more than Riley. How was she managing chained to a desk day after day? Were it, the experience of war, that have changed her so much? Would she sacrifice herself to ensure that nothing like that would ever happen again?
Should we have talked to her?
I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I have almost missed the fact, that we've arrived.
The smell of food quickly turned my thoughts towards happier regions and soon I was chatting with Kain about which place served best morning coffee, while joyfully waiting for my food.
"I'm not sure you should call it a morning coffee Nettle, it's half past one." He teased me.
"You should tell this to Mist." I retorted.
"I will never be that dragon, who begrudge a dragonel her pleasures." He answered seriously.
"Is this all about pleasure then?" I asked. We've been in London for quite a while, when one evening this very cute guy, Ben and his friends joined us in one of the clubs. Ben clearly liked Mist and knew how to make her like him back. That night she dragged him all the way back to the room we two shared in a hostel and soon the entire building was filled with her keening. Yes, this could not be described differently. I crashed with Kain and even though I was exhausted I had problems sleeping. We've actually moved after that.
In the morning Mist shone with some new inner light. Ben left grinning and she sat to breakfast with us having her hair in a messy bun, her neck full of bruises and a smile I've never seen on her before.
Ever since Bens of London would better beware. Mist kept on hooking up with gorgeous guys, that she found very easily, and we each got separate rooms. Also something else changed between us. Mist's focus seemed to be elsewhere, and she only was fully present while chasing another conquest. She often skipped meditation and talked even less than before. I was concerned but didn't know how to approach the older dragonel, who used to be the one taking initiative and so I just waited for her to open again. She kept on postponing meeting with potential dragon Felix and just seemed to sink deeper and deeper into some strange trance.
And today it just seemed as if she didn't care about us at all anymore.
"I honestly don't know what this is about." Was Kain's thoughtful answer. "I think we should talk to her, this seems to be getting out of hand. But limitations and risks of sex don't really concern dragons. She doesn't need to worry about unwanted pregnancy and we don't get infected. I have hard time finding some angle to approach the issue without just sounding jealous." Kain said and put the last piece of his pancake into his mouth then quickly moved on to eggs and bacon. He let out very inelegant sound of delight and almost choked as he wanted to exclaim. Mist entered the "Club" and was looking around for us.
She wore a sculpted white dress and a light blue blazer. Her favorite golden leather bag hang from her shoulder and her platinum hair fell around her face in elegant waves. She looked great, was I unnecessarily worrying?
She spotted us and went to join us taking a menu with her.
She smiled broadly and it was a beautiful smile but didn't feel as good anymore.
"I'm sorry guys, I should have told you to go without me, you need your food." She said.
"Are you taking us to church?" I asked eying her outfit.
"Like you've done so many times with this Daniel dude?" Kain countered and we fist bumped over an omelet.
"I'm still one of you" Mist countered pointing to her sneakers. We chanted "One of us! One of us!" Mist rolled her eyes. "Come now, he was cute." She said dismissively.
"He was." I agreed, food always made me more forgiving.
"What is all this fucking about Mist." Kain asked without a trace of former cheerfulness. He looked her in the eyes in a way that indicated, that he too saw changes in Mist and cared.
At first Mist tossed her hair over her shoulder and studied the menu intently. She ordered three different brunches and a big latte with vanilla syrup. She might have been fully fledged basilisk, but she was still just a hungry hatchling.
She waited to get her latte and took the first sip before she answered.
"I don't know. I'm sorry guys. It's just... We are adrift here. We don't know what we're looking for and then Ben hit on me and I... felt something. And then I remembered something the Archivist once told me. He said that human's most powerful magic is sex and love. And that combined these two are a key able to open and harness any other kind of magic in this world..."
Kain swallowed loudly. "You're fucking all these guys hoping to steal their magic and avoid meeting with Felix?!" Then he laughed. I didn't know what to think, this sounded... insane.
"Not only that." Mist countered. "Sometimes when I'm with them I feel something, like a solution or an answer, just outside my grasp."
"I've heard about it. It's called an orgasm." Was Kain's cool answer and we all laughed.
I felt bad for Mist but also strangely relieved. She was still working on our goal however stupid this might seem.
The food arrived and Mist had her mouth full for a while.
"I need to buy some sandals" I said. "The weather is getting too warm for sneakers."
Kain snorted "Weather in London is never too warm for anything."
"Let's go shopping." Mist cut in. "I want some new clothes too." I could easily read Kain's pointed silence.
"That's fine. You don't have to come." I said.
"Great! Meet me at the rooms, when you are done." He said and gulped down his coffee.
This evening as we were sitting in a booth in another "great place" I felt what Mist was talking about. We were adrift. Partying for Riley's money in a city we had no connection to. Kain wasn't at the hotel when we came back from shopping and was quiet after he came back. I suspected similar thoughts were crossing his mind.
A guy stopped at our table. The stranger was young and handsome. He had short locks like ones I used to wear and a dazzling white smile.
"Excuse me guys, but I saw you and couldn't help myself not to ask..." He started with beautiful voice deep and smooth as velvet.
"That's fine." Mist interrupted him with a broad smile of her own. He huffed surprised but tried again.
"It's just that you look so amazing sitting here and I was thinking..."
"You were thinking right!" Mist proclaimed and patted the seat next to herself. Me and Kain looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
"I'm Chris by the way." The stranger said sitting down and being immediately monopolized by Mist.
The music was too loud for us to hear what they were talking about and shortly after Kain asked if I wanted to dance and we went to the dance floor.
We danced for a while, music always amazed me with the way it worked like magic, making our bodies move independently yet in harmony. I enjoyed closeness of Kain's body pressing into my back when he said or should I say shouted into my ear.
"Wanna try the sexual magic?"
"What?" I was sure I didn't understand him at first. I twisted in his arms to face him and he pressed his cheek to mine and spoke to my ear.
"What Mist talked about. Maybe we should try?"
He smelled of washing powder and hair wax, not a bad scent. And he was beautiful, but wasn't we all?
"Last time I checked, you weren't human." I teased him. Unsure where he wanted to take this. I have never had sex in any of my forms and kind of feared it a bit. The threat of becoming a breeder, repeatedly raped and impregnated against my will have affected me and I considered sex... icky.
Kain's arms closed around my waist and he kissed me hugging me to his chest.
At first I was surprised but then I felt my body melting and I returned the kiss letting him deepen it, tasting Kain's mouth and pressing my body to his. He tasted sweet, only with the slightest traces of smoke. His hands roamed my back pulling me tightly against his chest and it was a completely new but wonderful feeling. As if we really were doing magic, the music changed to a slower number and we rocked slowly, kissing, me getting dizzy in Kain's tender embrace.
I looked up into his eyes and saw fire burning at the bottom of his black eyes. I could feel the same fire burning in me. The number ended and Mist approached us. "Chris will walk me home now, see you tomorrow."
We nodded and danced on. I was drunk on Kain's kisses, high on the scent of his skin, this was amazing. Song after song I felt magic weaving around me, but it was tethered to the other dragon beside me. I didn't need to worry for it getting out of control.
Cool wind was blowing through the empty streets and I pressed closer to Kain. I could have just increased my body's temperature, but this felt nicer.
Kain stopped and looked into my eyes, his face was hidden in the shade and I couldn't see his expression.
"Nettle, I need to tell you something." He said seriously and my stomach clenched unpleasantly.
"I talked to Felix Ingnius today." He said and I froze.
"Well, you're still here, so I guess it went okay?" I said faking a smile, while I desperately tried to gather my thoughts.
"Yes. He... is a dragon. He was alarmed to our presence by some other kind of... creature, who was a DJ at the place that night we almost got mugged. Apparently he saw you opening something called a chaotic portal in the middle of the floor before Mist stopped you. They have recognized us as dragons and contacted Felix, who sent his rider Calista to seek us out. It was her at the museum. Felix wants to help us."
My head was spinning from all the information, any kind of warmth dissipating in a wake of these revelations. I didn't understand half of the words and I was shocked, that Kain would have taken such a risk without consulting us.
The last part seemed easiest to address at the moment so I lashed out. "How could you do this?! What if he was a cannibal? Or with the Order of St George? Or something worse? You would have just disappeared and we wouldn't have any way to find out what happened to you!" I took a step back. Kain watched me, he seemed sad but resolved.
"I have asked them to join us for breakfast tomorrow." He said. "We need to move on! We came here to find some answers but so far Mist have almost lost herself. I don't want to depend on Talon or Riley for the rest of my life. If there is a way for dragons to live freely in this world I want to know!" He looked at me and I saw truth in his words. If this Felix... dragon wanted to help us, we needed all the help we could get.
"You are right." I sighed. "Let's get some sleep." Kain put an arm around me again but it didn't feel the same. My head was full of thoughts and questions that banished any memory of sweetness of Kain's soft lips.
When I went down to the bald sofa next day I was surprised to find it already occupied by Chris and a somewhat strange Mist.
"Good morning." I said merrily wondering how much time would pass before Kain came down, when he caught up with me.
"Good morning." Chris answered and stretched. "Care for a breakfast?" This was new, Mist usually got rid of her conquests before we ate, and I had an impression, that this wasn't her idea. And Felix was about to join us...
"Great idea." Kain answered smiling and added "Wasn't the place yesterday good enough?"
Mist nodded and we walked. Chris walked sideways trying to talk to us, asking how we knew each other, where we came from, how long we were staying and such. In the light of day he looked even more handsome. He wore black shirt and black jeans with brown leather shoes and navy blazer. A number of small intricate earrings hang from the lobe of his left ear. It should look like mess but it looked smart, on him.
After we sat down at "The breakfast club" and ordered food, Chris spoke as if he has waited for a very long time to say this.
"So guys, I saw you at the club last night and... I'm a painter, I study painting at St Martin's... May I paint you?" Mist huffed at that.
"So you pretended that you wanted to seduce me, so that you can paint my friends?" She asked coolly.
Chris gave her a really sweet smile as he answered. "It kind of seemed that the only way into this clique led through you."
Kain laughed and after a moment Mist and I joined in.
"Why do you want to paint us?" I asked Chris.
"I don't know guys, it's just... When you three are together there's something magnetic about you. It's like, I cannot take my eyes off of you. I want to paint this. If I can paint this, I'm a master. Or close." Chris explained and smiled again. It was difficult not to look at him too. Mist was still interested in him after they'd spent a night... It's never happened before.
When we've made an appointment at Chris study somewhere in East End, he finished his coffee, said his goodbye and left after kissing Mist under her ear.
"You cannot come at them so hard Mist, poor guy." Kain teased Mist in the earnest now. "You cannot use your coochie as the gate to get to us."
Mist gave her best Grace Kelly impersonation remaining posed and aloof as she ignored him completely.
"Good morning." An impeccably dressed dark haired man stopped at our table and Kain rose to greet him.
"Mist, Nettle this is Felix, Felix these are Nettle and Mist." He introduced us and pointed the stranger to the chair vacated by Chris. Mist looked at the stranger with wide eyes and he addressed her.
"Don't be alarmed darling, I want to help you..."
Mist's eyes narrowed at patronizing tone.
"And what can you possibly help me with?" She asked coldly.
"For starters how not to get ejected from this world for using this magic, that is your birthright." Felix answered seriously. I didn't know what to think about him. He had this air of affluence that made him look like he's stepped right out from a luxury watch commercial but he looked younger than his style. His skin was tanned, his black hair combed perfectly to one side with a bang falling into his brown eye. There was some bastardly charm to him, much like what Riley liked to channel to woo female hatchlings away from Talon. But despite all that I felt that I trusted him, and I wondered if he was manipulating our minds somehow...
"Kain have told me as much as he could about you, and I must admit that it was a shock to hear that there were more than a hundred dragons living a life of servitude in the name of a fake cause." Felix said.
"Oh, our cause was fake but you know the truth?" Mist challenged him.
"Yes, it was fake. Dragons are not threatened with extinction and we don't need to breed, as our species is not from this world. There have rarely been more than a hundred dragons in this world at the same time and still we've inhabited the Earth for millions of years." He replied and I felt my head spinning. This was strange and they touched on topic that was still hurtful for me.
"I have nothing to sell and I need nothing from you." Felix continued. "I just want to give you information about yourself. What you do with it, is up to you. I have not been bred like cattle and thus as most dragons, I am a solitary creature. Will you listen?"
Mist nodded and started to eat again. He then looked at me and I nodded too. At the bottom of his brown eyes I saw something like a window to another time, endless continuum of time and space and I was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of vertigo. I looked at the table to get some point of reference as Felix started to talk. His voice had this seductive quality, sweet like honey, true to legends. I listened intently, in case he would offer us our hearts deepest desires or anything else alarming.