A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! And for reading. Sorry that this chapter is kind of long :x

…-…

I have to say, the whole 'mate thing' really threw me for a loop. I had to ask Derres to repeat himself. Like five times.

And then he said some other stuff, but I wasn't really listening. Part of what I did catch was something like that dragons weren't monogamists and something about continuation of a species and Brath is an asshole anyway and…yeah.

I think most of his speech was actually that last part, but I was more in shock than paying attention to all the words being thrown at me.

Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I asked him to let Brath know I was back whenever he saw him—I wasn't sure I wanted to see him anymore, but that was beside the point—and I headed back down stairs, in a sort of daze. I mean, I was so looking forward to seeing Brath, you know? And Nicolas had said all that stuff about how Brath was gonna burn up my world if he didn't see me again and whatnot and I know that's not the most romantic stuff a guy could have relayed to you—actually it's kind of serial killer-ish—but still, there's an oddly sweet…undertone, I guess? I really am a bad person.

But now, when I see him, am I just gonna get the 'you're a nice girl' talk? Or worse, is he gonna pull the polygamy thing and ask me to stay on as his sordid lover?

After all, I guess I can understand that different cultures have different ways and stuff, but…I don't know. I guess I always sort of expected my life would involve living happily ever after with one guy who didn't have other wives/lovers/girlfriends/'consorts', as Derres put it. I mean, having multiple lovers is just begging for jealousy issues.

Look at me, for example. I already loathe this Zaercia person and I've never even met her. She could be a saint…though, the way people talk about black dragons, it seems less than likely. …Am I being racist toward dragons now?

….No, because all the black dragons are crazy, right? And you can't be a saint if you have all those voices whispering in your head…though I guess that would give them more stuff to bond over.

Ugh.

But that's not the point. It's just…I guess it's good that I found out now before I did something like sleep with him? Because I'm not gonna share my man…and so if that means I have to end it with Brath, then…it's better to find this stuff out before we have little half-breed abomination things on the way.

I shouldn't call them that.

But holy crap, can dragons and humans even have children? I mean, I do want them at some point…not that I'd want to bring kids into the world as it is now, but maybe in a few years when things are getting better…and I'm old enough to buy alcohol… I wonder if that law's still in place.

Yeah.

Like I said, the whole Brath issue was practically causing me a meltdown, though I suppose it's better than the reasons for my previous meltdowns.

It's actually kind of nice to be so wound up over drama instead of death, destruction, maiming, and chaos.

Though…is that what my life would always be like, if I stayed with Brath?

I thought about going back to my room and talking more with Fizz, but I wasn't really in the listening mood, you know? I mean, Brath and I have been flirting and we've kissed a couple times and stuff and I never really thought to ask if he had someone else in his life.

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. He's such a tease and since the beginning he was pretty much using me to some end, right? So of course one of the easiest ways that heroes or heroines—not that Brath is one—get what they want from others is through sex appeal. You make someone feel special and of course they're gonna help you with stuff. Because they feel like they're important to you and wanna stay that way.

Dear God, this is Greg all over again. I thought most people are supposed to look for traits their parents had—which creeps me out, by the way—not siblings. What if I have one of those complexes? I don't know what the brother one would be called.

And just ew.

Well, since my mind had wandered to Greg, I remembered that Nicolas hadn't told anyone else that he was still alive. It occurred to me that maybe some answers would help me get over the whole Brath thing—or at least make things better until I could talk to him myself—and so I headed over to see Nicolas.

I didn't even know if he'd be in his room and as I walked, I realized that I didn't actually know which room in the inn was Nicolas'. I mean, he's a rogue and all, but surely he has to have a room. But I'd never really paid attention, so I had no clue where it was.

So I went to ask Clara, hoping that she'd be kind of busy and not be able to talk for long, but still have time to answer my question. I'm so antisocial. Like, I have all these friends, yet I don't want to talk to any of them. It's not that I don't care, I just… I'm just stressed out and stuff.

That's not bad, right? Everybody has days where they don't want to talk to people.

Well.

I was still kind of in my own little zone when I went to visit Clara and I just opened the door. As my foot caught on something right near the doorway, I saw a bare butt and a sharp pelvic thrust before I realized that I didn't have to ask where Nicolas was because I'd found him.

Let's just say that he and Clara were a bit preoccupied.

I don't remember if I apologized as I ran away, but at least I had enough presence of mind to close the door. Though…I sort of took Nicolas' boxers with me, seeing as those were what caught on my shoe.

Ew.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.

This is just not my day. At all.

And I don't know how I'm ever gonna be able to look either Nicolas or Clara in the eyes again without my cheeks going as red as my hair—that color is still going strong, by the way. I mean, I know sex is natural, but that doesn't mean that I want to see other people doing it…especially Nicolas.

Though he does have a really toned back…

But ew. It's Nicolas. I will never get that image out of my head.

So, I kind of totally left his boxers in the hall outside Clara's door because I didn't want to touch them and I definitely didn't want to just leave them on my shoe—can you imagine having to explain that to Neesera or someone?—and I didn't want to open the door again on them…

Well, I went back to my room and I sure as heck knocked before going in. Fizz looked at me kind of funny when I came back in, but I guess the stricken look on my face convinced him not to ask.

So, we ended up talking after all and I actually welcomed it because the more he talked about the deserts and stuff of Egypt and a few other places he'd been, the more I was able to think about stuff other than naked men who I hate and how the guy I'm in love with apparently has someone else in his life.

Oh, and things got a bit better. Neesera and Maevlen came back from a scouting mission with Cisty in tow.

Not that I didn't like Fizz's stories, it's just more people equals more distractions, right?

So we all stayed up really late talking about what was going on in my world. I didn't have much to contribute since I'd been gone for so long, but I was happy with what I was hearing. In retrospect, I think they were trying to make me feel better, since as far as any of them knew, I was still grieving the death of my evil brother.

A little after midnight, there was a knock on the door and my heart was all aflutter—ridiculous, I know—thinking it might be Brath, yet at the same time my stomach was in knots if it was Clara or Nicolas—surely they're done by now…maybe they're just pretending it didn't happen though? I'm cool with that.

Well, it wasn't any of them, so my panic and anxiety and all that were for naught.

It was Eric.

It was actually kind of funny; Cisty teased him that he shouldn't crash a party without bringing anything and he out of nowhere conjures these little cookies and water. I guess that's a typical mage spell? Like the mush muffins I never got to eat that Fizz had sent with me waaaaay back when I'd headed to Stormwind?

Fizz was definitely rolling his eyes and Cisty declared that mages were cheap, but Neesera and I were all giggles, so I guess what he was going for worked.

They were really good cookies, by the way. I guess they'd be sugar cookies? I asked all the guys—since they were all mages—how that worked and Eric immediately launched into this explanation that just shot over my head. Fizz interrupted him though with a clap of his hands and then looked at me with his little red eyes and I saw a hint of annoyance in them as he smiled at me and said, "It's the same concept as makin' a bolt of fire appear, just with food. Since it's magical, ya don't wanna try to live off it, since it doesn't have all the nutrients and whatnot, but it's good enough when ya in a pinch—"

"Or at a party," Neesera teased.

"Yeah… S'pose it ain't a real party until we break out the booze, though," Cisty cackled and then looked up expectantly at Eric. "Don't suppose you can conjure any of that, hmm?"

Eric put his hands against his chest, fingers splayed. "You can't expect me to bring everything."

"Ya didn't bring anything," Fizz muttered.

However, even as Eric gave Fizz a questioning look that he tried to mask so that I wouldn't notice—I feel so roguish for seeing it—Cisty smacked her knees and hopped to her feet.

"I can solve this problem. That is…so long as you don't mind Hendric crashing our little get together."

I had no clue who Hendric was, but at this point, I was more curious about what was going on between Fizz and Eric to care if one or two or fifty more people came to hang out. Okay, maybe fifty wouldn't even fit in our room, but still. You get my point.

So Cisty darted off down the hall and the rest of us fell into talking about little things while we waited for her to come back with beer.

And, oh my god, it was like I was in high school all over again, at one of Bethany's parties. I mean, okay, yeah, people won't sell me alcohol because I totally look my age, but that doesn't mean they don't sell it to my friends. Glazing over the fact that I'll probably never see any of those friends again because I am determined not to be completely depressed, I had to wonder what exactly Cisty was gonna bring back. I admit, I'm not a huge drinker—and what little I tasted of Azeroth's stuff was definitely way stronger than anything I'd ever had here—but I can hold a drink or two.

And these guys didn't seem like the kind who would try to get me blitzed for no apparent reason, so the whole get together felt really…comfortable. Almost like something normal I'd have been doing.

That's when it occurred to me that it's coming around time I would have been graduating, since I was senior. And then I'd have been going off to college to have nights like this with dormmates and stuff.

But you know what? It's like I said before, I'm not the top of my class. And nothing ever really appealed to me, profession wise. I'd never been able to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and suddenly the thought of going to college seemed so pointless and I was almost glad that it had never happened.

I could see myself sitting in broken cities or wherever with this lot, fighting beside them when necessary, for the rest of my life. And if this was my lifestyle of choice, who's to say things couldn't work out between me and Brath? Maybe Derres is wrong about Zaercia. Maybe they're siblings or something and Derres just misinterpreted something.

And I want to point out that this line of thought was before I started drinking, okay? So it wasn't like some drunken epiphany. This one was legit.

Anyway, we hadn't been talking long when we heard Cisty call out for some help in the hallway. As Eric jolted to his feet, nearly tripping over his own robe, to help, I saw an opportunity and leaned toward Fizz as the others rushed out to help carry in freakin' kegs—maybe they are the types to get blitzed for no reason—and whispered, "What's up with you and Eric?"

"Nothin'," Fizz tried to shrug it off, though when he caught my expression he just sighed. "I just think his timin' is poor."

"Timing for what?"

The look Fizz gave me… it was pretty much a 'wait, you don't know? Everyone else does…' sort of look and that had me worried. What was going on? Was something going to happen to Eric? I glanced toward the window, wondering if it was a full moon or something and if that even affected him the way it does werewolves in the movies. Like, was he going to wolf out on us and tear us to shreds?

Surely by now he would have counter measures for that kind of stuff. And honestly, he seems more like a Twilight werewolf, where he can change at will and isn't really that out of control.

I suppose I don't know much about werewolves, though.

Well, anyway, I was curious about what was going to happen to him now, so when he and the others came back in with Hendric—a dwarf warrior with a short beard and quite possibly the most foul mouth I've ever heard—my eyes were pretty much glued on the scrawny little mage.

And I am sorry to say my tact did not improve with alcohol.

Overall, the night was awesome. Like, nothing spectacular happened per se, but I was able to forget about walking in on Nicolas and Clara and even how upset I was about whatever was happening with Brath. We drank, we laughed, we talked about random stuff, not just fighting. I told them about how one of my guy friends had tried to drink a beer underwater in my other friend's pool once and Hendric declared, with all of us as witnesses, that he would master such antics himself one day.

Cisty wasn't overly thrilled that I'd given him the idea, since I guess dwarven memories are really good even when they're drunk and he's got this weird sense of honor where he'll go through with pretty much anything he says.

Oh, side note: if you're the kind of drunk who spills their guts, never drink with a dwarf; they will know all of your secrets. And if you do, just hope they aren't the kind of person to hold it over you.

I didn't get wasted or anything, just a little tipsy, since I was kind of terrified I might blurt out that Greg was still alive if I let myself go too far. And I had a sinking feeling that more than just Hendric would remember a detail like that.

But it was so much fun.

Well, time went by, and Fizz got called off for portal duty—which we all sympathized with him since he pretty much hadn't gotten any sleep before hand and it would be a long shift—and then Neesera and the others passed out. Well, not Hendric. When people started falling asleep, he decided we were lame and headed off down the hall with his beer to find himself another party.

I wasn't really tired yet, so I decided that rather than stay in the room, I'd let everyone sleep and walk around a bit. Well, as I was heading to the door, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Eric was still up.

Nothing had happened to him yet, and as I told him I was gonna go walk around a bit, it occurred to me that I still didn't know what horrible timing was going on. So I invited him along.

We made it down to the street and were talking about different things—I told him about how I'd first started sneaking around the house when I was ten and Eric was telling me about his first spells. He's like a prodigy. He never said it, but he started casting spells when he was five and I've heard from a few others that generally you're about thirteen when you start showing affinities for magic. So, he was really young, plus, he's only twenty two and in Nicolas' raiding guild. That speaks volumes, right there.

I think we walked around for almost an hour before I started nodding off and Eric suggested we go back since it wouldn't be smart to stay out in the open where demons could attack when we're tired.

It was a good point and I was finally feeling like I could actually sleep—maybe even deep sleep, without any dreams—and so we headed back.

He walked me all the way to my room and as I was opening the door, he said good night. I returned the sentiment, but as I was walking through the door it occurred to me that I still didn't know whatever was supposed to happen, so I stopped and looked back at him. "Eric—"

His fingers brushed against my cheek as he cupped my face and leaned forward, kissing me lightly on the lips. He lingered there for a moment and then pulled away, letting his fingers run through my hair quickly as he whispered another good night and then headed back to his room.