Taqi ran up to me, looking at me all over. "Oh my God! Toby! Are you okay?" Taqi seemed to be a bit frantic. "I'm fine…", I tell him. Why is he so worried? I mean, I can't say I don't like it… But he's more worried than Rizzy. "Is this also what mates do?" I ask him. "What?" Taqi looks at me confused. "Do mates worry about each other like this?" I ask, trying to make my first question more clear. Taqi stands up straight and sighs, running his long fingers through his hair. "Of course we worry! What the hell kinda question is that?" The stranger says, getting agitated. Taqi puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "O, he doesn't know what mates are, so relax."
O? O! The same O from earlier today? The weirdo! O crossed his arms over his broad chest and asks rather aggressively, "Why the fuck not?" Taqi just looks at me with a concerned look and says, "I don't know. We haven't got that far yet." This O just smirks and says "Really? But you went as far as to make out with him." At this, my face flushed red. Oh yea… he saw that… "I saw that needy face of his and thought I'd have a taste." He says matter of factly. My jaw dropped open and he began to laugh. "I'm joking!" He says. I just wanted to properly introduce myself. He began play with the tips of his ears and quickly became... shy? "Enzo said that I came off too strong and scared you." His head hung low for a couple seconds. "I'm sorry…"
Maybe this O isn't that bad… right now, he's looking more like a sad puppy than a horn ball predator. As his head was bowed, I reached up on my tippy toes and put my fingers through his hair. Almost like I was scratching his head. O seemed to be taken aback by this, but stayed still. He then dropped to my eye level and I could see the blush creeping up on his face and the tips of his ears. I stopped, thinking maybe he didn't like it. But as I retreated, he grabbed my wrist and said, "No! Don't stop…" Aww! This guy is just a shy giant puppy! I continued to scratch his head and I swear he started thumping his leg.
After a little while, O stood back up and fixed himself, he shifted back into his normal form and looked at me a little dazed. "You know… Enzo would be pissed if he found out that I didn't introduce myself…" Enzo? Is he another mate of ours? He's mentioned him before. Wait... Ours? He scratches the back of his head and looks everywhere else but at me. "I'm Orion. But you can call me O, you know, only if you want…" he ends up scratching the back of his head and turns away from me. O… Ori… Oreo?
"What! When do you ever blush like that?" Taqi yells, astonished. "Since when were you this shy?" He teases Oreo. "Shut up!" Oreo yells at Taqi. His face got even more red! I didn't think that would be possible! "It's just… I'm not used to seeing someone so… cute…" Taqi's jaw dropped in shock. "D-did you just say cute?" Oreo just looked at me then went in for a hug, "He's so tiny!" Taqi just looked at us in disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done to Orion?" Taqi seemed to be genuinely confused. Meanwhile I was being squished to death. "Oreo! It's too tight!"
Oreo paused in his actions and just looked at me some more. What is he staring at? Just then I remember that I'm not wearing my mask... Oh no! M-my face! I just shot my hands up to my face and proceeded to squirm around again until I was set free. I took the edges of my hood and pulled the sides together so that only my eyes were visible. "U-um, thank you for saving me b-but, I… I…" I was swimming for an excu— O wait, my next class! "... have to get to my next class!" I fished my folded schedule out from my pocket. "The business of art…", I read out.
"You must have that with me then," Oreo spoke out. Great… "But that class starts at 12:30, it's only…", Oreo takes out his cracked phone and checks for the time. "10:47," he smirks. "We have more than an hour and a half till that class starts, so that means you can join us!" He creeps up to me and I move back. Sadness washed over his face. "Why are you backing away from me…" Taqi puts his hand on Oreo's shoulder to calm him down. "Don't worry O, it's not because of you… he's jus very cautious…" He says.
Oreo puts his hand over Taqi's, "Why? He shouldn't be cautious of us..." Oreo's whole demeanor changed. His eyes became steely and his scent wafted in the air. He was hurt? "It's because I'm a dragon isn't it…" What? No… That's not why. I shake my head. "No!" I shout. The all too familiar tightness started to creep up in my chest. I don't want him to feel bad because of me. "That's n-not…", I tried to speak, but it became hard to breathe. "I-I… d-don't… I-I s-sor-sorry…" At this point, I dropped to my knees and began to hyperventilate. "Toby! You need to calm do…" That sounded like Taqi but, his voice seems to be getting all muffled. Oh no… I need my medicine…
I grab my bag and quickly took out the pill bottle before my head started spinning. I tried to open it but, lost grip of the bottle and my pills spilled onto the floor. I could feel my vision begin to fade and body fall forward before landing onto something softer than the floor. I could feel someone trying to shake my body… I heard muffled voices, calling out to me, I think. But the only thing I was worried about was if I would ever get to meet my other mates. Would I ever live a life happy with them? Like a real family?
My mind finally stopped. My body grew weak. My vision turned black and I faded into the darkness.