Jesse blinked sleepily, still feeling a little drained from the magic.

Other than that, though, they didn't actually mind it too much.

The dragon became a little overly excited upon seeing Jesse's eyes open and proceeded to start licking them like a very happy dog.

"Ack. Ah." Jesse halfheartedly flailed slightly and pushed the dragon away enough that they could sit up, the dragon rubbing its nose on Jesse's chest happily. Reuben squealed, butting his head into their stomach happily and rubbing up against their tummy.

Jesse hummed happily, rubbing both of them. "Hi, guys."

"Jesse." Petra scooted around to face them, relief glinting in her red eyes, even if it barely showed on her face. "How're you feeling?"

"Sleepy."

Gill chuckled and came over, relief in his own eye. "If that's the only thing that's wrong, you're good." He jerked his head over at Maya, who'd picked herself from where she was leaning on the wall and was approaching. "She was stressing out about you."

"Yeah, you asshole, since they passed out," Maya replied, smacking Gill across the back of the head sharply, but there was a little less acidity in her voice than usual.

She crouched next to Jesse and ruffled their hair, making them squeal and giggle a little, trying to swat her off. "You're looking pretty good. Next time you do something like that, let us know, okay?"

"There's not gonna be a next time. That was intense." Petra patted Jesse on the back, scooting closer to them and giving them a squeeze.

They leaned into her slightly, blinking only a little blearily. "Really?"

"Yes, really. You gave us a bit of a scare." Petra poked them in the forehead, making them squirm and faintly bat her away. She grinned and started poking them more, as if trying to gently tickle them.

"Ahhh, nooo..." Jesse giggled and went to hide in the crook of the dragon's neck, the dragon giving a pleased sort of purring sound, like a giant cat. Maya laughed and went to follow them- then paused, smile fading slightly.

Jesse only had to look up to see why. Aiden had apparently come over to where the dragon was resting its head on the stone floor and was now standing over them, staring down at the little human with a look that Jesse couldn't really figure out- partially because they really didn't know him that well, but it was also just one of those hard-to-read looks.

"Aiden." Jesse managed a weak little smile up at him, although they'd started twisting their fingers anxiously. The dragon rumbled, purple iris sliding around to stare at Aiden carefully.

He was okay.

That was more than they could ask for, really.

"Are you feeling okay?"

He stared down at them impassively. Which, you know, wasn't terrifying to them in the least.

His fingers absently rubbed where the wounds should've been, skin still stained red from the blood despite the fact it looked as though he'd tried to scrub it off. Jesse could see the white marks where the gashes had been.

So it had worked.

They were glad.

"... yeah."

Then:

"Thanks."

He turned away before they could tell him 'you're welcome' out of courtesy and went to gather some of the supplies. Jesse felt a little marble of relief in their chest even as he walked away, the dragon curling around Jesse somewhat protectively as he turned their back to them.

"Hey, but I think Isa should give up her title. The dragon really likes you," Gill said at length, grinning at Jesse and deciding to move past the very awkward silence that had just taken place.

"Well, Jesse's not a lord," Maya pointed out.

Petra grinned, ruffling Jesse's hair and messing it up. "I 'unno, I think they'd make a good one."

"Noooo..."

"Oh yeah, they would, wouldn't they. All hail Jesse!" Gill plucked Jesse up off the ground with ease (the dragon watched a bit warily) and held them up like they were Simba in the Lion King or something, grinning.

Maya snorted and curtsied. "Excuse my rudeness, Lord Jesse," she said, joining in on the teasing.

"Definitely." Petra bowed as well, her grin so wide that it was practically ear-to-ear.

Jesse squirmed, giggling and trying to hide their very red face and trying to wiggle out of Gill's grip simultaneously. "Nooooo!"

They were so busy trying to escape the teasing that they didn't see the look Aiden sent in their direction.


Getting back to Sky City took a much shorter time since the dragon flew them back.

Well, more accurately, Jesse asked the dragon and it happily let Jesse climb onto their back, and reluctantly let the others on when Jesse asked, but it did take a much shorter time.

"Holy shit. You actually did it."

Isa smacked Mevia on the back of the head, making the blue-haired lord scowl at her faintly.

"Children," Harper chided, gesturing at Jesse, but she was still smiling faintly.

Mevia nodded, looking at the large dragon currently rubbing its nose on Jesse's back and almost fussing over their clothes. Jesse halfheartedly swatted at the dragon, rubbing its nose when it rumbled and butted its head into their hand. "And amazingly, you did actually bring it back alive."

Lukas chuckled at that, gesturing at Jesse, who was now sighing and fixing their shirt so that it was straighter. "Well, thank them for that."

"I didn't really do much... or anything..."

Aiden raised his eyebrow at that, but Isa was already speaking. "Well, we must thank you, then, Jesse. This creature's power will be of great aid to hopefully fixing the radioactivity in Sky City."

"Aid," Harper murmured.

"Oh, yeah. We'll help with your request as well," Mevia added, glancing at the other October Children. (Isa subtly kicked her for the informality.)

Lukas bowed slightly but courteously, straightening up a minute later. "Thank you, Mevia. Isa. Harper. It's much appreciated."

The dragon grumbled right around then, licking Jesse's face and evidently pleased that their shirt was no longer crooked.

"Can you guys please not hurt it?" Jesse asked earnestly, staring up at the three lords.

Harper, Mevia, and Isa instantly glanced at each other, red-rimmed irises flicking so that they were all staring at each other, thoughts that they weren't certain about whose belonged to who bouncing between them.

Can we promise something like that?

I don't know. Maybe we can.

But that limits the amount of research we can have done. Or do.

Yes, but considering they're the one who brought us the dragon, I think they have a right to perhaps decide if we can do anything to it or not.

Besides, it may end up being dangerous without Jesse there to keep it in check.

(None of them could really disagree with that sentiment. The dragon seemed to love Jesse and barely tolerate everyone else.)

But can we figure something out without hurting it?

None of them really had an answer to the last part. Jesse looking like a hopeful puppy was not helping them figure anything out, either.

After a moment, Harper turned back to Jesse and nodded, a small smile spreading over her lips. "Okay."

Jesse perked up, relief spreading across their face. "Really?"

"Yes, of course," Isa hastily agreed. Damn their cute face flitted through all three lord's minds, but none of them were sure who was the culprit of the thought. Perhaps it was all three of them. "We'll figure something out. Right, Mev?"

She looked over at the pale blue-haired lord, shooting them a look that had an undertone that said something along the lines of "I will murder you if you upset them."

Mevia, faced with Jesse's puppy-dog eyes, Isa's subtly murderous look, and Harper's oddly hopeful look despite not having any expression on her face whatsoever, just shrugged.

"Yeah, alright."

"Jesse is a force to be reckoned with," Aiden mumbled to Lukas.

Lukas grinned at that.


A/N: Not wrong, Aiden, you're not wrong xD

Well, looks like the lords are helping the October Children with the party after all! And the dragon's just sitting there, I guess xD

Visual novels are wonderful. I'm making my own. The MCSM dating sim, though... oof xD

I am a mechanical pencil. Reviews are my lead. I received the lead :P

Responses to reviews!

LegendEmpress: Haha, yeah, Jack's great! I also like Mark, and I like Septiplier as a bro ship. Like "look at us we are awesome friends", not, uh, the romantic version xP / I don't remember those puns, unfortunately xD / Since Gabriel did the death poke and didn't actually HIT the dragon, I'd say probably not xD

Toni42: Hehe, yeah. / Heeee, I got the idea from the doll game. / Hehe, I'm glad you think so.

ThinMintE: Nope, perfectly normal. Well, not normal, but they are human. Just a weird one.

TheAmberShadow: That's too bad, how boat you look around? There are plenty of fish in the sea. / Hehe, yeah xD / Nope, they're just arguing for arguing's sake. More normal than discussing the light show Jesse put on xD / I can confidently say that they are, in fact, human. / Only half demons have to, and even then Petra doesn't. It's... kind of a spoiler beyond that.

Guest: Thank you! xD

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x