It takes them a while to walk to where he'd planned to, but when they get there, it's all absolutely worth it. The way his companion brightens up and stares in awe at the different machinery in front of them is endearing, and she starts asking questions left and right about how they work and if magic is involved, and he's all too happy to reply.
"This is the amusement park" She perks up at his statement and, once again, twirls around her own heel to see everything at once, her bright eyes shining with delight at the sight.
She turns around to give him a look and it takes him a second to understand, before he nods twice in agreement.
Then, his yellow-haired friend skips through and starts checking out the place at her own pace, faster than a curious tourist, but not fast enough to force him into a quicker walk or a run. It's sweet that even though she's excited, Lucoa still wants him within an arm's reach, stealing glances his way every now and then to know how he's doing, though it's pretty clear he's amused with her reactions.
They reach a certain massive structure of metal and mechanics, and it's obvious why he brought her here now, a snicker escaping his mouth when the dragon-woman gasps in surprise.
Brandishing a green-dragonic emblem, it's a small rollercoaster of doubtful security assessments, but quite impressive in the already relatively small park. It's evidently the main attraction, and by the looks of it, Lucoa can't even understand what she's looking at. Only that it kind of, sort of resembles a dragon.
"It's a rollercoaster" He tries and she turns around to look at him with confused eyes. Then the distance is quite clearer for her and dives forward to catch his hand with her own, the display of affection in clear public not affecting her the way it affects him, "No books about that?" He questions with half a teasing tone and a chuckle.
"No, I don't think I read anything regarding this…" She answers truthfully, but then her eyebrows burrow in distaste, "Is it…mocking my kind?" Lucoa manages and he only laughs in return.
"No, it's just a theme. There's no dragons here, and definitely no conflict between us and your kind" He then explains how most people actually looked up to dragons as fantasy and awe and amazement, more than horror or hate. By the time he's done it's obvious that her view on the matter has changed, and she tugs his hand with her own in a silent request to accompany her into the metallic dragon.
It's not a huge, extravagant rollercoaster, and he expects nothing out of it, but once inside the cart, he lifts his hands at the mere sign of speed. Of course, it's never something alarming or adrenaline inducing, and it's not like one of those Disney-level rollers, but it's still fun, more when Lucoa doesn't even react or feel a change or anything at the speed, but still she mimics him and lifts her hands up in the air, smiling in the process.
So out of place, it was amusing. Out of pure curiosity and desire to understand why it was all funny, Lucoa asks for a second ride, and he obligues without question.
"Dragons go far faster than that" She finally lets out a comment he knew she was keeping hold of since they exited the attraction and he only snickers at the sound of it.
"I'm aware" Is all he answers back and hurries forward, in his eyes an amass of people he obviously wants to skip and she follows close behind him. He explains he's not keen to be surrounded by people and she merely nods at him.
"So that's a first thing we don't have in common" Lucoa lets him know and he hums to himself, for once, surprised.
"Could've sworn dragons liked solitude" And it's all just in-game and mythological knowledge, not actual facts, but she goes silent and it's obvious he's hit a certain nail.
Silence fills her up even though she's still staying close to him, and finally the dragon-woman sighs, "I'm…a little different" She finishes and he's not about to pry any further, so he leaves it at that and keeps walking.
They both walk side by side until the end of the park is in sight and her hand tugs his own again, forcing him to stop. To turn around.
Her eyes are all filled with anxiety, with worry and a bit of guilt, and even though it's not unusual to see these emotions in her, it's the first time he has to wonder why.
"I'm sorry for being so…secretive-" She begins her myriad of apologies but it's not something he wants to let her go through, and with a hand up in the air he manages to make her stop.
"You don't need to tell me anything you're not ready to, Lucoa" He interrupts and walks forward. It's the first time he initiates some sort of contact when his hand reaches her shoulder and squeezes tight, "I can sense your worry, and it's unwarranted. We've barely known each other for longer than a day or two, and you already live in my house, seen me cry and shared a bed together. I trust you and it's only fair you get to keep your secrets" He gifts her a warm smile that she's never seen before and it's a blink of an eye before he's surrounded by softness and floral aromas.
She's about his own height but easily he's being lifted over his own feet and slowly spun around in glee, their surroundings long forgotten even if he's blushing madly at the sight.
It's not humiliating, but certainly, it's not something he expected to do.
"I trust you, too" She says, and he wonders if that's because of what he just said or because she has some sort of magical prowess that lets her know when someone is lying, but he accepts the feeling either way.
It takes a minute or two before his feet touch the ground once again, and it's only then that he realizes his shirt is slightly damp, and her eyes were flowing happy tears. He concentrates on their link for a bit and realizes: his words and trust mean much more than he'd ever thought they would, to Lucoa.
It adds a layer of curiosity within him. A wish to learn more about her. But all that he shoves into his inner mind and focuses on the present.
Without knowing, the sun has disappeared, and when his legs start burning, he decides that it's time to go back.
"I think I'm done for today" He mentions, hinting at the fact that he's exhausted, and she quickly fixes her mood and eyes, nodding slowly as she rubbed away the last of her eye droplets, "You can-"
"No" She shakes her head twice, "Without you, I go nowhere" It's not just a statement but something even more meaningful, and he silently gulps in return, wondering if this is a draconic custom. To stay close to those you've linked with. Or as close as Lucoa has been lately.
"Not even to go buy groceries?" He teases and starts making his way to the exit, chuckling at the way her footsteps quickened until she finally reached his side.
"There's exceptions" Lucoa happily replies back with the same amount of tease and he finds it interesting how quickly she picks up on his sarcasm. It's endearing to say the least.
Then there's a speck of doubt gaining weight on his companion and he lifts an eyebrow in questioning fashion.
He blushes when she asks a simple question and nods nonetheless.
May I hold your hand?
They make their way back home huddled closer together.
—
He doesn't remember at what point something interrupts their way back, mainly because after a few steps he had decided to enter in auto mode, but for once, Lucoa wasn't by his side, and the death of night wasn't as present as the voices in front of him. Someone had interrupted their tranced state, even if he just noticed it.
It's Lucoa, yes. But with someone else, talking in a strange language he couldn't even pinpoint. Orange hair, wide green eyes and…a maid outfit. A cosplayer, maybe? It crosses his mundane mind for a minute, only…
Only, there's horns. Only, there's a scaly tail coming out of the stranger. And then things fit into slots and make sense.
This must be one of her dragon friends, for sure.
They're chatting happily, exchanging words and perhaps catching up (he wouldn't know, the language wasn't something he'd ever heard before) and for once he hesitated. He's never been shy, but maybe Lucoa wouldn't-
But then his companion turns around and walks to his side, taking hold of his hand and pulling him towards the stranger.
"This is Tohru" She introduces him to the shorter dragon-woman, and instead of friendly eyes, he was met with skepticism. Doubt.
One growl from this stranger and an ominous aura surrounds Lucoa in an instant, her eyes throwing daggers towards the maid-dragon.
"Behave, Tohru" She orders, but it sounds more like a warning. It sounds like if she didn't, Lucoa was ready to do the unthinkable to keep him safe. It creates a feeling of security within him, and he runs a thumb against the smooth part of his companion's hand with care, immediately calming her down, "Bruce, this is my friend Tohru…she's, well, cautious. But means well…sometimes" It's not reassuring, but he nods either way.
Then Lucoa smiles brightly, her next words filling her with happiness.
"And this is Bruce! My human" She declares with gusto, squeezing his hand tightly and almost jumping. He tries to ignore the light blush pushing up into his cheek, and doesn't comment on the human thing.
The other dragon isn't about to do the same, though.
"Kobayashi-san says that humans are not property" Tohru scowls and it's not towards him but Lucoa, and it's all too quickly before the yellow haired dragon starts excusing herself.
"No, it's not like that. We are connected!" She argues and Tohru squints her eyes a bit. Staring and not believing her words, "A-And I didn't mean it like…" She's looking at him now, and he merely smiles in return, not having taken any offense to begin with.
"It's fine. That means you're my dragon as well?" He teases, if only to get a reaction out of her and Lucoa beams up at his words, nodding so fast it sends waves of air his way.
It's too soon before an aura full of anger sends shivers down his spine and he can only freeze in his spot, Tohru seemingly getting offender at the retort.
Lucoa senses this and her eyeballs turn to slits, frustration clearly on display at her friend's temperament and willingness to show animosity towards him.
She growls, "Dragons are not-" But a flick of something, maybe magic, hits her on the chin and lifts her head upwards, immediately stunning Tohru. A cute yelp came out of her mouth and, even though the impact was loud and clearly powerful, the orange haired dragon merely staggered backwards a step. Almost like a surprising slap and nothing else.
"Keep that up and I'll let Kobayashi know you're being stupid again" Lucoa warns the rebel dragon, and unlike the last warning, this one really hit Tohru right where it hurt, immediately changing her demeanor and body language.
Then his companion turns around again and smiles reassuringly. Like always, they need no words.
It's all okay.
The dragon in front of them is all apologies and small, comical tears from then on. It's a big contrast, but it reminds him of Lucoa herself. At times, a magical being, at times, a small puppy.
She's here on grocery duty, and it's no surprise to hear that she only wanted to make sure Lucoa was doing okay. To which the yellow dragon merely scoffed and mentioned that she could take her of herself, as always.
"You mentioned Kobayashi?" He remembers at one point during their bickering and Tohru stops on her words, nodding twice toward him.
He chuckles and brings out his cellphone. He doesn't miss the way Lucia's eyes flicker with curious light, but with a wink he lets her know that it'll be shown to her later that day.
"You mean, this Kobayashi?" He offers the phone to the orange haired dragon and it's an immediate reaction. A bright smile, toothy grin.
This is her human, then.
"Oh, I didn't know you-, er, hold on" Her eyes filled with dread and a bout of fear, "Are you Kobayashi's— are you two...going out!?" It's a huge question, and it makes sense given it's him and the short red hair holding each other in a one armed hug, grinning widely with beer on both their hands. It had been someone's party at work, and also a celebration of his entry to the company.
Funnily enough, Kobayashi is his superior, and one of the only reasons the boss doesn't fire him on the spot.
He senses a sharp pain next to him and it's Lucoa, who's looking at him like the world just shattered. Like the stars lost light or the plants, oxygen.
But a smile her way is all he needs to calm her pain, whatever they meant.
"No. She's my superior, we work in the same company" His reply brings a waterfall of relief from his companion and Tohru finally lets out a huge sigh she kept hidden within her, "She's just a friend, helped me out with some stuff. Saves my neck every now and then" Soon Lucoa's presence is right next to him, holding his hand with her own once again, while Tohru nods proudly to herself, muttering about how that's exactly who Kobayashi was.
Afterwards it's all a blur, Tohru saying goodbye and picking up an ungodly amount of plastic bags no one should be able to carry, and them both waving goodbye at her.
It's lame, but he takes a seat on a nearby public chair to take a rest.
The yellow haired dragon sits down next to him with content, until she realizes that he's probably tired.
"We're about ten minutes away, let me just take a break, I've been standing most of today anyway" He says and he feels stupid, because halfway through his sentence a snap of a finger is heard, and they're both already back in his living room, sitting down on his comfy couch.
Lucoa giggles and it's the most endearing sound he's ever heard before.
"I just wanted to walk with you for a bit. If you ever need to move fast or you're tired, I can take us anywhere you want" She states and it catches him out of guard this time. The fact that she's this powerful, this magical, and it's clear this isn't even scratching the surface of her powers.
Perhaps she notices his surprise, because she slowly moves backwards, creating a distance between them.
"I'm sorry…" She apologizes, perhaps worried about him, "I—I bet it's a bit scary, right? I'd never-"
"Hurt me" He interrupts her mid-sentence, "You'd never
hurt me" He repeats clearly and finally she's looking at his eyes with her beautiful dual color orbs, "Can you reveal your horns?" He asks and it's a surprise to her, but still she nods and lets the two slim poles come out of her head, "And your-?"
She shakes her head in denial, "My tail is too long, even if I'm in this miniature version of myself"
"It wouldn't fit in the entire room?" He questions, and almost weirdly ashamed, she shakes her head once again.
He smiles, interesting.
"I'm not asking you to do this to judge you, I just…" He then shuffles closer to her on the couch and stares at her face with concentrated eyes. It takes a bit and by the end, Lucoa is flustered, never having thought his mere sight would weigh so much on her. "I wanna show you I'm not scared of you. The real you, even if it's an infinitely long, immensely huge flying snake" He smiles at her gobsmacked face full of surprise and shock.
"You-" She shuts her mouth, her eyes drifting everywhere nervously before centering on his own once again. He lets her take some time to calm down, and then proceeds, "How?"
"You're a legend here. In this world, you're a mythological creature coming from the Aztecs, a culture a few hundred years away in another country" It's not hard to inform her, and she nods in understanding twice from his telling, "Maybe you appeared here hundreds of years ago?" She made a face and shrugged.
"I have an impeccable memory, but I don't remember" She sighs and he shrugs this time. It doesn't sound like a lie even if he can detect that it's not a whole truth either.
"It's not important, I just wanted to show you that I'm not scared. If anything, I'm happy I know you and that you're…even approachable in this form" He states and she inches forward a bit more, taking his hands on her own. Apparently, a new habit for her. To hold his hands whenever possible.
"I like this form, even more than my own" She confesses, her eyes looking at their hands joined together, "I'm kilometers long, so long it's not measurable…no one's ever done it at least"
She sighs, "And I'm too big, almost impossibly big. Seeing you would be impossible, you'd be so small" She lets out a giggle, "Even Tohru looks like a small ball of fluff next to me, and she's bigger than most of your cars, most of your a—air plains"
"It's said that you're as big as the entire planet, and omnipotent and—," He continues, but Lucoa stops it, blushing and shaking her head.
"No, not as big as a planet! And I'm not…omnipotent, and nowhere near there. There's thing that I can't do and laws that if I don't abide to, will banish me from this realms…really, not omnipotent at all…"She gulps hard and frowns, "I shouldn't really tell you any of this…I want to keep things relaxed, I don't want to overwhelm you" He tries, but Lucoa continues anyway, "This is important to me. Being millions of years old, being huge or powerful…I don't care, when you look at me, I feel alive and that's all I wanted. You bring me emotions that shake me more than any attack ever did, or any event ever brought me…That's why you found me on that funny seat under the rain, because I was bored and tired and a little…"
"A little sad" He finishes the sentence for her and she nods, her hands trembling in impossible human fashion.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I could be a little more…human"
It takes only a glance for him to realize she meant that in the deepest of ways.
"You're human enough" He goes and she's opening her mouth to retort, but continues onwards, "It's hard to overlook things like immortality, or…so much power, but you look steady. You don't seem to be drunk in power, you never make a big show out of them and I don't think you're some villain or something of the sort"
"I'm no villain, but I'm…not a saint either" She retorts anyway and it's cute even when she sits with her back straight and gets all serious, "I've lived too long, so I can't say I'm either this or that but currently, I am a pacifist, and tend to this realm and this planet in specific…but I'm afraid this is as far as I'm willing to let you know for the time being; many rules I've already shattered to the ground…I hope you can understand" And there's that bittersweet taste of guilt and remorse in her tongue that speaks in volumes, so he nods in agreement without a bother.
"I understand, Lucoa. I'll always understand" It's warm when she looks his way and finds those bright yellow and dark orbs shining a magical light, filled with emotion, "And I'm not afraid…you've shown me no reason to be, and you're not a monster" She frowns and he retorts before it even comes out of her mouth, "Not in this form or your other form or any form, you're not a monster"
After a minute of silence and surprise, she lets out a small huff and pouts, turning around to add more meaning to her action, as if he was dealing with a teenager of sorts.
"How do you always know what to say? Are you sure you're not a mind reader?" And it's a tease and he laughs, but it's also not true at all.
"Oh trust me, after this morning, I sure wish I always knew what to say" Another frown, but a sound coming from his belly stops her from even starting an onslaught of questions.
"It's late, I can make you something to eat. I read that dinner should be light for humans, otherwise you risk bad digestion…" He chuckles and shakes his head twice.
"I want to cook dinner for you this time" He smiles at the way she blushes a bit and remains stunned in silence.
After a second, she retorts, "N-nonsense! You paid for our entry to the amusement parks and for the guardian of metal's back ride. You also pay for the ingredients and this house…I may not be from this world, but I'm a grateful god—er, ah, dragon…" Her head hangs low quickly and realizes her mistake.
He's torn between acting dumb or merely commenting on the fact that he sort of suspected it already.
"I'm…"
"Later" He decides and she perks up to his voice, "We'll discuss that later" Lucoa beams and nods in agreement, not quite ready to tackle the conversation just yet, "Now you mention something about food? I'm starving, I don't think light will do it"
It's cute when her eyes light up in excitement and she nods plenty of times before speeding off to the kitchen, ready to cook whatever she found interesting inside his cooking books.
He's tired, yes. But also filled with new found curiosity, excitement and for once…
Affection.
Came back to this series for the heck of it, found love for it once again and I kind of like writing in present pov. I'm willing to write some more now so expect more chapters soon.