The Ropes
Draco had it rough the following days. No one cared about anything he said. Most people didn't even acknowledge his existence. For two days he worked in the same clothes he had arrived in before Kato actually called his house-elf and made sure Draco got his things. Why the man couldn't just have done that from the start was beyond Draco. Elves were there to serve after all.
Not a popular opinion around Kato and Draco regretted opening his mouth almost immediately.
6th of July, 1997.
Draco growled as he hit the ground.
"Back up," Kato said.
"Why?" Draco spat. "What's the damn point? You don't see anyone else doing this stupid stuff."
Kato hummed softly as he looked over to the main house. "Are you sure about that?" he asked. "How about we take a look." He started walking towards the house. He knew Draco would follow him. There was no way he wouldn't. If he was right he would want to rub it in.
They entered the house and Kato walked left and down a set of stairs. He opened a door and stepped aside so Draco could see. Beyond the door lay a gym. Zoe was lifting weights as they walked in. Near the back Taka and Aimal, the other head handler, were sparring with swords.
"It looks to me like they exercise," Kato said.
Draco gritted his teeth. "At least they aren't being bossed around by some dancing bummer," he said.
Kato raised an eyebrow. "Fine, but you have to exercise or you are not coming along to see any dragons," he said. "You'll have to figure out how to do it. I will train you the way I do. Not like this. You want to take care of it yourself then go ahead," he said calmly. He walked through the room over to Taka and Aimal.
"Problem with your seito?" Taka asked.
"He doesn't like my methods," Kato said. "Do you mind some opposition?"
Taka shrugged. "It's always fun with a challenge," she said.
Kato smiled and grabbed the ropes before pulling himself up into a handstand and dropping into the ring.
"Show off," Aimal said.
"Do you have a sword or will you have to borrow one?" Taka asked.
Kato drew his wand and he could tell that they were about to argue with him when he transformed the wand into his sword. He cast a spell over it that would ensure that he wouldn't hurt anyone with it then he relaxed.
"As I said," Aimal said. "Show off." He moved forward quickly and Kato caught his blade. He pushed Aimal back and moved as Taka attacked him. A smile spread over his face as he fought the two head handlers. They had very different styles. It was fun to spar with someone who knew how to wield their sword.
Kato felt how he worked the rust off as he kept fighting. He moved faster and faster and fell into a dance he had partaken in many times before. His strikes were light and fast.
"Now that is a sight worth seeing," Charlie said as he walked in with Ellie and Deyan. He didn't know that Kato could use a sword. He certainly didn't know he could fight like that. He had seen Taka and Aimal fight before and that was quite the something, but Kato somehow kept them both off him and delivered his own strikes.
"Looks fancy I guess," Zoe said.
"No, it looks deadly," Deyan said. "If those swords weren't spelled dull they would be cutting limbs off right now."
In a corner, Draco was trying to work one of the machines. Ellie eventually took pity on him and taught him how to use it. "Remember that you need to stretch too," she told him before she walked over to another machine and settled in.
Kato was breathing heavily he called an end to the fight. "I think we have enough bruises," he said.
Aimal nodded and bent over to catch his breath. "You are not just a show-off," he said as he straightened up. "I hope to fight you again."
Kato bowed. "You are a good sparring partner," he said. "We will do this again."
"Once the bruises heal," Taka said as she looked down at a long bruise running along her arm. "You don't hit hard, but it is so fast it could just as well be a whip."
Kato shrugged. "I don't look pretty either," he said.
"You will come with me to the Short-Snouts tomorrow," Taka said. She looked over at Draco. "He is not coming," she said. "He is far from ready."
Kato nodded. "I'll put him to work," he said.
Later that day Draco hissed whenever he tried to lift anything heavier than a pen. Kato didn't feel sorry for him. If he wanted to use the machines he would have to ask for help so he could learn how they worked. He would have to swallow his pride eventually.
In the evening Draco headed over to the bathroom to take a long hot bath. He deserved it after the day he had been through. As he went for the door it opened and Kato stepped out. His shoulders and arms were covered in deepening bruises Draco looked at him as he passed. Then he saw the scar that ran across his back as an angry, purple, knotted line. Draco wondered briefly why learning Dragon Tongue from Kato was so enjoyable while everything else sucked. Why couldn't he just teach him dragon tongue?
7th of July, 1997.
"Translate these," Kato said as he placed a stack of texts in front of Draco. They had just finished breakfast and Draco looked at Kato as he walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Taka and I are heading to the Swedish Short-Snouts today. I'll be back late today or tomorrow. I expect you to behave or you'll just have to face the consequences of your actions," Kato said.
"What about food?" Draco asked.
"They serve food in the mess hall for those who don't have time, don't know how, or don't want to cook for themselves," Kato said. "I expect that pile to be finished when I get back."
Draco looked at the pile on the table. A part of him wanted to just ignore it, but he knew that texts like these were quite interesting to read. He wanted to know what they said. He sighed. "Stupid Kato," he muttered. He wasn't doing these because he had been told to. He was doing it because it was interesting.
Kato didn't care why Draco did as he was told. That was fairly unimportant to him. He joined up with Taka and another handler he didn't know the name of. He held his hand out and introduced himself, but all he got in response was a glare. "We need to bring these things?" Kato asked Taka.
Taka nodded. "We're travelling in to set up new sensors. The old ones aren't giving us the feedback we're hoping for anymore. Hopefully, it is just the sensors and not something else," she said.
Kato grabbed a pack and put it on without complaining and they headed over to a car.
"We'll drive to the gates after that it is too dangerous to bring the car," Taka said. They climbed in and Owen started the car.
"Owen knows this pen the best of all our handlers," Taka said. "We will be following his lead in there."
"Sounds good," Kato said.
The gates were big enough to transport a dragon through them should they need to. They were tinted blue to indicate what dragon nested beyond them. They didn't mix dragon species for safety reasons. Some dragons were more aggressive than others.
Owen walked first as they headed in. Rolling hills gave way to thick forest as they headed further in. A small pond became visible and toads jumped all around it. They placed sensors down every kilometre or so. Slowly their bags got lighter as they walked. Suddenly Owen raised an arm to stop them. He pointed towards a set of jagged cliffs and started moving that way.
In the distance, they could hear a dragon roaring.
Just as they reached the cliffs two dragons flew in over the forest. They circled the area slowly. "Jul," one roared.
"They can smell us," Kato said.
Taka nodded. "We should mask that and see if we can keep going," she said. "They don't seem too happy about having us in here." She stood up. Owen pulled her back down and shook his head.
Dragons were sensitive to magic so casting spells would be really foolish. Kato looked around to see if there was a natural way to mask their scent. He couldn't find anything nearby enough to make it useful to them. He took his backpack off and moved around a rock. Then he summoned Kali and sent her off. She headed into the forest before appearing closer to the dragons. She ran out across the field and disappeared over a ridge. Both dragons took off after her.
"What was that?" Taka said quietly.
"I sent out my familiar," Kato said. "She'll keep them busy for a while at least. She can't be hurt and I can keep her up halfway across Britain. I know because I have tried it."
Taka nodded. "It is a good spell," she said. Then she looked up at the sky. "We should keep going," she said. "It will get dark soon." She wasn't wrong. Soon enough they had to stop while they were still sheltered by the cliffs.
Kato pulled out cold pies and drinks he had brought with him just in case. He watched as Owen sniffed the pie before taking a bite. He looked like he enjoyed it so maybe he just wasn't comfortable with new people.
Kato could tell that Taka felt nervous about sleeping in the dragon pen. He couldn't fault her, he just didn't feel the same. If he had feared for his life every night in Skyrim, he would never have gotten any sleep. "We should sleep in shifts," he said. "Then at least one of us is awake to wake the other two if something happens."
Taka seemed to relax. "That sounds like a great idea," she said. She was good with dragons and could handle all kinds of problems, but she always had a team of handlers with her. She wasn't used to going out with just two others and sleeping in the middle of a reserve. The sensors had worked perfectly fine since before she started working at the sanctuary. She had never done this before.
Owen took the first shift. He moved away from the other two just a little and sat down. He was surprised that the newbie was so calm. He seemed less worried about dragons attacking than Miss Taka was. That could be a lack of understanding just how dangerous dragons were or it could be that he just chose not to worry about things out of his control. Owen had a hard time telling.
A few hours later Owen went to wake Kato and he watched Kato walk around for a bit after waking up. He laid down himself. He guessed he could sleep safe enough, Kato seemed alert and aware.
Heavy wing beats had Kato moving away from the other two. His eyes narrowed as he saw the dragon. "Dufo," he breathed.
The dragon landed in front of him. "It has been quite some tiid, time Dovahkiin," Dufo said.
"That it has," Kato said. "I hear there is something angering dov, dragonkind around."
"Listen and you shall learn," Dufo said.
Kato moved up to her and touched her side. "You were hurt?" he said as he noticed a partially healed wound on her flank.
"Foolish male," Dufo grunted.
Kato healed the wound before climbing up on her back and helping her with a few old insistent scales he knew it was hard for the dragons to get rid of. "Why won't you tell me what is wrong?" he asked.
"You have to prove yourself child of dovah," Dufo said.
Kato chuckled. He wasn't surprised that they would challenge him like this. Dragons hated sharing. Treasure, lairs, secrets it didn't matter what they just didn't like sharing. "I shall do my best," he said. He dropped down from her back. "Thank you for coming here to see me," he said with a bow.
Taka yawned and rubbed her eyes. She checked the time and sat up. Wasn't Kato supposed to have woken her up half an hour ago? She got up and looked around. Owen was lying asleep not that far away from where she had been laying just a moment ago, but she couldn't see Kato at all. She walked past a cliff and froze. Only a few meters away she could see a big female Short-Snout. The dragon flapped her wings and lifted. As she moved away the moonlight fell down on the ground where she had stood.
Kato was standing there watching the dragon. He lowered his gaze and looked straight at Taka who took a step back. There was something about his eyes that seemed wrong. He blinked and the strange light seemed to dissipate. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you in time," he said. "Dufo wanted to say hello."
Taka swallowed thickly. "You know her?" she asked.
Kato smiled softly. "We've met before," he said as he started walking back to their camp. He sat down in his blankets. "Wake us in two hours," he said. He lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.
Taka stared at Kato for a moment before she started walking around to get her temperature up. Had she really seen that dragon or had she just imagined it? Who was Kato Peverell? Could he really talk to dragons?
9th of July, 1997.
Kato, Taka and Owen finally made it back to base two days later. They were dirty and tired, but they had placed all the sensors and everything was up and working again.
"Afterwork? This evening," Taka asked.
"Sounds good," Kato said.
"Bring some interesting things to drink. We usually have some kind of drinking game," Taka said.
"Will do," Kato called back. He really wanted a shower.
The kitchen table was clear apart from the stack of papers in the centre. While Kato did want to check Draco's work, he wanted a shower more. He wondered briefly where Draco had gone. He figured he would find out eventually. He sighed happily as he stepped in under the running water. He closed his eyes and let the stream rinse off the muck. He grabbed the soap. He had to remember to order more soon. He worked the grit out of his hair slowly. It had been nice to see Dufo again. She seemed to be doing alright. He stepped out of the shower and grabbed his wand. He dried himself off so he could get dressed.
Kato cleaned the house as he walked back downstairs. He looked over the texts he had asked Draco to translate. He made a few notes. If he could find Draco they could go over the texts before evening. He cast clairvoyance and followed the blue streak over to the main building.
Draco was sitting with the weights. It seemed like someone had told him how to use them because he was using quite light weights.
"So you are finally back," Draco said as he noticed Kato.
"Apparently, dragons don't like humans," Kato commented. "You should have seen the state of us."
Draco nodded slowly. "You know we're not friends, right?" he said.
Kato leaned back against one of the machines. "You have decided that you don't like me," he said. "I know training is rough, but you're not listening. If you behaved the way you do with me around let's say Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall what would they do?"
Draco placed the weight down. He looked down at his hands.
"If you want to join us, the gang is getting together for some after-work today," Kato said.
"Yeah," Draco said. He didn't look up. Not even when Kato left. His Master had a point. Maybe he was behaving childishly. Severus certainly wouldn't stand for the talk-back and the attitude.
"Done?" Zoe asked gruffly as she stopped in front of him.
Draco looked up at the intimidating woman. "Yeah, I'm done," he said. He stood up.
"You know sometimes we can't just do what's easy. You'll never amount to anything that way," Zoe said. "If you have someone willing to help you then maybe you should accept that help."
"Even if it makes no sense?" Draco asked.
"Have you asked why he wants you to do the things you're doing?" Zoe asked.
Draco froze. Had he ever asked Kato why he needed to learn something without sounding like a whiny brat? He didn't need to like Kato to learn from him, though he had to admit that learning Dragon Tongue was enjoyable. "Thanks for the advice," he said. He rubbed his face as he headed back home. He was not apologizing. Malfoys did not apologize.
Kato had made dinner when Draco got back.
"Will you be joining us for some afterwork?" Kato asked. "We have to prepare for something so I kind of need to know."
"What do we need to bring?" Draco asked.
"Things to drink," Kato said. "I got the impression it wasn't necessarily supposed to be pleasant things."
"Sounds like a drinking game. I guess alcohol and Dragons don't mix well so they do the more child-friendly version," Draco said.
Kato nodded. "Do you have any ideas for things or do you need help?" he asked.
Draco's first instinct was to say he could fix it himself. He had ideas, but he wasn't sure he could execute them. "Yes and no," he said.
Kato chuckled. "How about we get started on that then," he said. "I've got what I need already."
…
Charlie smiled as he saw Kato. "Come in," he said. He stepped to the side so they could enter. A low table dominated the kitchen slash living room. Zoe and Ellie were there already. Ellie waved. "Hey, guys," she said. "So how has your first week been?"
"Interesting," Kato said. "A little grimy maybe."
Ellie laughed. "Yeah, that tends to happen," she said.
Taka and Aimal showed up a little while later and everyone scooted together so they would fit too.
"You have the food buns in your pack, Draco," Kato said as he pulled out puffs filled with an array of different things. "I made some snacks," he said.
"Ditto," Ellie said with a smile. She brought out mini cupcakes and cake truffles.
"With these two around we'll never go hungry," Charlie told Deyan.
"Viktor did say he was a good cook," Deyan said. "And a good flyer."
"Huh, didn't know that," Charlie said.
"So how about we let one of the new guys start?" Taka said. "Never have I ever and we keep it clean for the first two rounds."
Kato looked at Draco who shrugged. "Sure why not," he said.
"You say your statement and then you pour shots for everyone who's done it," Taka said.
"Sounds simple enough," Kato said. "Never have I ever smoked." He chuckled as several people raised their hands. He pulled a bottle out of his bag and poured it up.
"Here goes," Charlie said before drinking the shot. He gagged and grimaced. "What is that?" he asked.
"Fischsauce," Kato said.
"Okay," Taka said. "It's Ellie's turn."
"Oh, PG for now huh, that's so boring," Ellie said. "Well, I guess I could say, never have I ever played Quidditch." She smirked as Kato, Charlie, Draco and Deyan all raised their hands.
Kato took his shot glass and lifted it to his mouth. He threw it back and coughed. "Celleri extract," he said.
"Oh, you are good," Ellie said.
"Never have I ever been drunk," Zoe said.
"You are just pure evil," Aimal said as everyone else went to drink the shot of vodka she had poured.
"Have a bun you'll need food in you after that," Kato said. He chuckled as the next statement was laid out. Around the table it went.
"Oh, finally two rounds in you can't stop me, Taka," Ellie said. "Never have I ever made out with a guy." She smiled brightly as everyone but her and Aimal drank for that one.
"I was drunk," Deyan defended himself.
"Yeah, sure," Draco teased. He was actually having a blast. He hadn't been sure about this when Kato brought it up. Sure, he was used to doing things like these with his housemates at school, but he knew them really well. He was finding that it was even more fun with people you barely know, especially since Kato ended up drinking so much of the nasty stuff.
"Never have I ever gone skinny-dipping," Aimal said.
Kato chuckled as he raised his hand. "I spent a whole summer on a warded property with a beach view in France. You think anyone cared about bathing clothes?" he said.
"Hear, hear," Ellie chimed. "That's the way to go."
"Never have I ever fought a Dragon and lost," Kato said as his turn rolled around again.
"Meanie," Charlie said as he took the shot.
"Never have I ever had a one-night stand," Zoe said.
"Looking at the tally it doesn't look good for you, Kato," Taka said. "It is probably a good thing we aren't drinking alcohol."
"Yeah, my liver would hate me," Kato said as he looked at his stack of glasses.
"Never have I ever battled a dragon," Draco said while looking straight at Kato. He wanted to see if he could catch his Master with that one, but Kato raised his hand.
"How have you never lost?" Ellie asked
"I'd be dead now if I had," Kato said. "I suggest winning if you now feel the need to fight a dragon."
"Hard to argue with that," Deyan said.
The statements travelled around the table again and back to Ellie. "Never have I ever been in a threesome," she said.
Kato was the only one who raised a hand this time.
"What configuration?" Ellie asked.
"Eh, there has always been at least one girl. Though I have also taken potions to turn myself into a girl and done it," Kato said.
"Damn dude, you get around," Deyan said.
Kato shrugged. He wasn't about to get embarrassed because of his love life. "I like exploring new things," he said. He smiled as the people around him seemed more embarrassed than he was.
"Never have I ever lied about my age," Zoe said.
Kato raised his hand and accepted another shot of vodka. It burned as he drank it.
"I think that's enough for everyone," Taka said. She grabbed a deck of cards and started dealing.
Kato moved back from the table closely followed by Ellie. Neither felt like playing.
"So mister adventurous," Ellie said. "Any fun plans right now?"
Kato laughed. "Are you asking or does Charlie want to know?" he asked.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Does it matter?" she asked as she poked him.
Kato caught her hands in his so she would stop poking him. "I'm not seeing anyone right now," he said. "Why are you interested?" he said while wagging his eyebrows at her comically. He sighed and looked over at Charlie.
"I know you're not serious about me," Ellie said. "You like him. Why don't you go over there? I'm going to join the next deal." She moved back next to Zoe while Kato stood up. He moved past everyone and headed out the front door. He needed air. His stomach was not agreeing with the mess he had been pouring into himself.
Charlie looked up as the door opened again and Kato walked back in. He smelled like mint. Charlie smiled as he felt Kato lean against him. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kato said. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against Charlie's back. He breathed in deeply. He had missed something like this. He wrapped his arms around Charlie and hugged him. At some point he dozed off.
Kato felt fingers running along his arms gently.
"See you tomorrow guys," Ellie said happily before heading out the door.
"Thanks," Kato said softly. He saw Draco packing his things up so it was probably time to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow," he told Charlie before kissing his cheek.
"See you," Charlie said.
"So, they took about a bazillion pictures of you and Weasley," Draco said. "Did you really fall asleep?"
"I did," Kato said unashamedly. "Charlie is very comfortable." He opened their front door and brought his bag of bottles over to the cupboard so he could put them back. "If you know yourself it is much harder for others to get to you," he said.
Draco shrugged. He couldn't argue with that since Kato was clearly making it work. He stifled a yawn. "I'm going to bed," he said. "I'm joining you tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good," Kato said. He put the last bottle away before heading off to bed himself. He really should figure out what was going on with the dragons.