Marry him? If this was last week, Sinclair would have frowned at him for cracking a strange joke. However, what else was it, sharing his dragon's heart with this other person? If that wasn't akin to marriage that eternally bound them together, then what was it?
Sinclair could only chuckle as if deriding the sick assumptions of his relatives. "Close. They just noticed that I'm too close to you and that I have yet to marry despite my age. They somewhat expected the worst, aligning with the troubles in the city. If that disease continued to spread, it might not be safe here or something."
As if accepting things at face value, Ainsley only nodded. He then took a sip on his glass and remembered something. "Oh, so… should I help you cover your disinterest in actually marrying someone, or should we deny the matter?"
"…what do you think?"
"I want to go with the first part, but I'm not sure if it's because you're secretly in love with some girl your folks didn't like. After all, it's the King family that we're talking about." Ainsley finished his glass and started to play with the bottle in the ice bucket. "Are you okay with that? They might kick you out or disown you…"
With a smirk that looked so strange even to Ainsley, Sinclair replied, "Nothing like that will happen. King Industries is solely mine, and they would only lose riches if they disowned me."
Perhaps no disowning would happen among the dragons for some reason. However, Sinclair didn't know how to break things to Ainsley. His father, who Sinclair indeed respected, had ordered him to bring the mortal to them. He could continue to protect Ainsley, but he couldn't hide Ainsley from his father… especially when he needed his father's help.
The other members would surely start a ruckus, but if the family head spoke against their plans, they would surely be more strained into taking steps. Scheming against the supposed weakened prince was manageable, but getting Ainsley hurt would be devastating.
Not only because he shared with dragon's heart with him.
…
The night sky had swallowed mostly everything, and only the distant buildings tried to fight the darkness. Sinclair looked out of the windows as he waited for Ainsley to finish making the floor bed for the two of them. Ainsley, if given a choice, would never let Sinclair sleep on the couch. Well, at least not without annoying him to death first.
Ainsley sat down and stretched out as he yawned. "Sinco, all done! Man, I feel so sleepy. Is it because I didn't have to face dreadful paperwork tomorrow? I can't wait to sleep, sleep in, and then sleep some more!"
"Leo, can I bother you with something?" Sinclair looked up at the dark sky and realized that the moon had shone down rather strongly tonight. He then turned to Ainsley, but his hand clutched at the thin curtain that he had drawn earlier.
"Hm, sure." However, Ainsley was frowning at him. It was as if he was suspecting that Sinclair was about to pull off a stunt again. After all, it was not unheard of.
"It's no fun if you're already guarded. It's just a small thing." At the sight, Sinclair laughed out. However, the next second, he speedily sat down before Ainsley. With his back facing the other, he unbuttoned his shirt and exposed his broad back to the other. He even heard Ainsley yelp at the surprise.
Piak! Ainsley slapped that firm, flawless white back in front of him. "Rascal! I hate you! What's this?! Do you think I will scratch you for free?!"
Sinclair wanted to laugh, but he choked as he received the slap against his back. Even if it wouldn't redden, the jolt it caused was enough to make Sinclair wheeze inwardly. He then started to lie. "I can't help it. My arms can't reach the middle."
"Then don't grow too wide!" Ainsley growled as he placed his hands on Sinclair's back. Just like what he expected, he could feel the muscles even if they were being flexed. The skin was also smooth despite the heavy workout that could have dried someone else's. His fingertips began to move even if the only faintly reddening part was the spot he slapped. "Hey, I don't…"
He didn't know exactly when, but his fingertips seemed to start getting caught on something.
Ainsley looked down and focused more on the skin. For some reason, he could see parts of it shimmer under the moonlight coming from the window Sinclair opened. Since the window was not obscured by another building, the moon could be seen in its full glory from Ainsley's bedroom. That only meant that the dragon skin was also not impeded to receive it.
Parts of the skin began to change as if Sinclair was turning into a scaly fish. Even if the scales were still silver and looked invisible because of the man's complexion, the shimmer was making sure that the scales would stand out. Soon, not only his back, but even his arms began to grow scaly.
"Ainsley, are you scared?"
Sinclair's slightly worried voice broke through the trance that he placed Ainsley in. It was the same tone that Ainsley could remember that night before he woke up. However, when he took a look at Sinclair's face, he saw his friend's eyes had changed into a snake's, the irises seemingly as white as the moon above. Horns were also on his head, but they were like pointed buns on the side of his head.
As a reflex to the unknown, Ainsley's eyes flickered in disbelief. Was he already dreaming without him realizing that he had already fallen asleep? No, that's not it.
He then reached out to touch the sharp end of the horn, his finger bleeding just from the brush of it against his skin. "Sinco, what is this? Are you… are you really not human?"