This is a fast paced plot, but I still could make it slow burn on the pairing area if the story calls for it; at this point, I can't say for sure.

I read a very angst heavy fic and then wrote this down, so,,, there's that.


2. Συναντώ

There's something bittersweet about trees that wasn't there before, a dulled dread, a short flash of adrenaline, a vicious voice flaring up until Evan's ears are ringing to the beat of his heart, an odd sense of vertigo even though he's firmly planted to the ground; before trees were peace, they were an escape, a different perspective, and now… now Evan has the physical representation of the weight of his decisions in the form of pristine plaster hugging his left forearm.

Evan's inner dragon loved treetops, loved the way the sun felt as it felt on his scales, shattered by the cushion of leaves, loved the feeling of bark against his cold body. Because he was part human and fed on human food, he didn't actually have the need to hunt, which meant that critters would eventually approach him if Evan stayed in the trees for long enough. It doesn't make as much sense for his fake form, which means animalistic instincts remain out of the explanation he comes up with, when he's laying broken on the ground; Evan hadn't shifted anyways, so it wasn't that much of a lie.

Evan hadn't had shifted because he knew that if he fell from a high enough distance it would kick in his muscle reaction, and his wings would catch him before he hit the ground, besides, he was pretty sure it took a fall from something much taller than a tree to kill a dragon.
There are many reasons why Evan does it, and many reasons why he's here now, an entire week after his failure:

1- It's the break, so the only place he could be absent to was his house, a house that's empty - sans himself - more often than not.

2- By the time the only other occupant of the Hansen household returned, Evan would be long, long gone.

3- She'd be distraught, possibly, like she was supposed to, but his lost would mean less money spent, and less stress to make ends meet.

4- The only person to find out before school started, the one who only gave him the time of day because it was convenient, wouldn't give a shit.

5- The people at school wouldn't give a shit, unless the class let out earlier because of it.

6- The beta he'd been pining after for what felt like years, the one who didn't know him, wouldn't give a shit.

7- The government that hunted down people like him wouldn't give a shit.

8- He was absolutely alone.

He went to Ellison, because that had been his second home for the longest time, found the tallest tree he could, climbed as high as the branches would allow, and still came out with nothing other than broken limb; the doctors said he was lucky, his mom said he was lucky, Evan just felt like an utter failure.

He picked somewhere different this time, unknown terrain, thinking maybe the change in setting will ruin whatever so called lucky streak he apparently has, he thinks the abandoned apple orchard makes for a fitting place for someone like him to end it all. When he felt at Ellison, nobody had been there, or close, no one had come for him, so he expects even less of a crowd here.

He doesn't get to climb any of the trees, or to check around for a tall enough tree, or to shift in order to look for tall enough trees; because his ears caught a sound that kicked his inner omega into gear.

There were very few things capable of doing such a thing, though the majority had to do with scent, not sound; but as Evan found himself running in the direction of the sound, he realized it could only be one thing.

It wasn't human, not right now at least, Evan could still sense the humanity as an undertone to the wail; that's what it was, there was someone crying, someone young, they sounded scared, and they had to be for them to have shifted.

Lost

Evan accelerated his steps, falling into agreement with his instincts, something ringing in his ears

I'm lost

He felt as though the plants were moving out of his way, or guiding him closer to where he had first heard the sound.

Help me

Evan came to a stop in a clearing, standing there, looking like they were about to burst into tears, was a small shaking dragon, black scales that glowed reddish as they breathed out, grey smoke coming out of their snout. Evan doesn't know what to do about a dragon pup, but he knows he can't leave them either, so he takes a deep breath and hopes his instincts are enough.

"Hey"

The dragon whirls towards him, their body going tense, scales bristling to a dark maroon; Evan puts his hands up where they can see them, and makes no other movement.

"I'm here to help"

I want my dad

Evan is suddenly aware that he's hearing them, even though they didn't open their mouth, that he only does because he's a dragon too.

Dad!

There's a shift in the very air of the orchard, an Evan's senses light up like a Christmas tree at the smell of an alpha.

"Tera!"

Evan is frozen in place, as the trees give way to a worried figure, one that's dressed in dark colors, one that stops dead in their tracks when they see him, one he recognizes. Connor Murphy stands in front of Evan, looking as though Evan is the scary one of the two, it lasts a whole second.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

In times like these Evan's inner omega lines up with his anxiety, and Evan makes himself small instinctively, even though he knows he could very easily take on any alpha at school, what with being a giant acid spitting flying lizard.

"I just- I was- but then I heard- and I- I'm sorry, I'll go, sorry"

He chanced a step backwards but was stopped by a low growl.

"You're not going anywhere Hansen"

Evan swallowed, stuck in place as Connor got closer, and his scent became stronger, he was obviously angry, but also weary, and he smelled nice, and Evan really didn't need to be thinking that right now, damn it.

"What did you mean you heard her?"

Evan hasn't exactly been diagnosed with it, but he knows he's a compulsive liar, sometimes, when faced with terrifying alphas that look ready to tear him to pieces, it works in his favor, or when he needs to hide his true nature from others; both of those criteria have been met, because he doesn't trust Connor one bit.

At the very least he knows the gender of his fellow dragon born, and if Jared knew that's what he was calling it Evan would never hear the end of it, that's if Jared didn't immediately turn him in, because, Evan doesn't trust Jared either. Surprisingly, and most likely because of the dragon pup still in the area, Evan trusts Connor more than he does Jared, but only slightly so.

"She was crying and she's a kid so, you know, omega senses, or well, you don't know because you're not an omega, um…"

"Right"

"So I heard her, and instinct kicked in, and-"

Evan gets an overwhelming feeling of confusion, enough so that his eyes tear up, but it's not his own, he licks his lips and closes his eyes.

"She's upset"

Connor frowns at him, looks at the dragon pup, and instantly transforms, every feature softens exponentially as he moves to pick the girl up into his arms, and Evan notices that she only smells of Connor, no one else; that must be hard.

"If you tell anyone about this Hansen"

"Who would I tell?"

"That asshole alpha you're friends with"

"Jared isn't my friend, he's mostly just stuck with me because our moms get along"

Connor looks confused for a moment, then gets a look like he had an epiphany, then looks at Evan with something close to regret but second hand, as if he was feeling it in Evan's stead; it was a hard to read expression, but it wasn't outright pity.

"That sucks"

Evan bites back a sarcastic remark.

"Yeah, so, I won't tell anyone"

Connor levels him with another hard to read look, like he's weighting down something, and then nods towards him.

"Well, come on then"

He stars moving deeper into the orchard, Evan's body follows before he has the time to realize he's moving; it's ridiculous, Connor hadn't even used his alpha voice.