After the night candle had withered away, we were finally able to sit down, just the three of us, the conversation had halted to a lull. Dragan dad, aka Mr. Scandar, was a very bounteous man, I could barely get a word in, he had dominated the conversation the whole night, telling stories of where he lived, he easily opened up as the Grimalkin started serving him with hospitality, he ate like a madman, and drank like one too.
Dragan just sat to the side, with an apology on his face the whole time, he barely moved a muscle and looked like he was tense the whole time.
Under the moonlight sky, and the soft flicker of a light, the pitter-patter of the night clouds simmered over us.
I could finally get a good look at Scandar, his skin shined, it wasn't a normal glimmer, a soft pattern of colors over what looked like normal human skin.
It almost looked like snake skin.
Now that I thought about it, I had noticed something similar in Dragan a couple of days ago,
Dragan was still evolving into his full transformation.
Meanwhile, Scandar was a much more well-adjusted Dragonkin, having lived that much longer, I did wonder what kind of stories he had before today.
Now all he had to do was commune with the sun or the moon for mana. But how had he survived all of this years ago?
I guess that was a story for another day.
There was a more pressing matter, Zomearion.
The house we were staying in was the Grimalkin governmental building, they had a few rooms to spare, and Dragan and I would share a bed.
The room we were in had sliding doors that led to the patio, we opened them and a gentle spring breeze flew through, not too cold but enough to save these two men from the scolding heat of the spring mountains.
Finally, like a lion who ate too much, Scandar laid himself out in front of us, picking at his teeth with a toothpick. His back to us.
Scandar was the first to break the silence.
"It's kinda peaceful up here, don't you think? Perfect weather almost all year round too," he said almost with no impromptu.
"You'd need permission from the Grimalkin, Scandar," I explained in a small passive-aggressive tone.
He looked at me with spite.
In his human form, he was much less scary.
"I know that," he said still facing away from us. "I'm not saying I would set up camp in this village, I'd make my own, somewhere close to here, and help the Grimalkin with whatever they need, they have been so nice to me after all," he laughed in a quirky smile, he meant every single word of that sentence.
The silence crept up on us again, was I the only one feeling this weird tension? Scandar seemed like he was having a chill ass time.
"Should we tell him?" suddenly said Dragan in a small whisper, he was sitting next to me after all.
"Tell him what?" I asked whispering back.
"That you're my little one!" said Dragan like it was a matter of fact.
"Sure, why not?" I said. What possible harm could come from Dragan telling him that?
"Dad -" Dragan started. I thought about it for a minute. There was something I was missing or Dragan hadn't told me. But I couldn't stop him. "He's my little one," he said pointing at me.
Scandar suddenly sat up straight and turned towards us.
"Pfffffffftttt - WHAT!?" he exclaimed with great uproar. Spitting out his herbal tea.
"Yeah - It just sort of happened," said Dragan.
"He's a Zomearon spirit Dragan!" said Scandar.
"I didn't have a choice!" said Dragan. His dad had used his first name.
Scandar heavily sighed.
It was before I knew who was Zomearon, or what he wanted from his reincarnated spirits.
"I've been meaning to ask you that sir, you're the one who could clarify a lot of things for us,"
"I do know a little bit about Lore One," Scandar explained. "But I'm not talking to you,"
"Dad -" Dragan said exasperated.
"You do know what this means right?!" said Scandar interrupting Dragan.
"I do - " said Dragan
"What - What does it mean?!" I said joining the conversation.
"You see," Scandar started. "Dragonkin only marry through arranged means, and the women of the relationship usually adopt the nickname little one to follow tradition," said Scandar.
He paused for a second.
"It's honestly kind of outdated since it does kinda belittle them in a sense, but you're a boy - right?" said Scandar referring to me.
I got embarrassed all of a sudden, I noticed Dragan, his face was flushed red, and he couldn't move a muscle.
"Um - Yeah," I muttered.
"Oh! In that case, it's fine, it's kinda cute actually," said Scandar.
Wait, that was it? It was weird seeing a man of his build say that.
"You're not mad, we're both men," I asked.
"Eh, it's whatever, marriages are only kept for appearances anyway,"
"How do you mean?"
"Dragonkin men just fuck each other into submission," he said like it was nothing.
"Ummm, what now?" I was confused.
"Yeah, it's like a game, we only do it in a generation so the young ones stay out of it until eventually, the hazing comes back to haunt them of course, that's why Dragan left the kin," said Scandar with a playful smile.
"He just couldn't get to be on top," said Scandar with a cheerful mocking attitude towards Dragan.
"Dad!" said Dragan hiding his face away. I was honestly shocked. He stood up so quickly that it was almost frightening. And embraced Dragan in a fatherly housing way.
"Dad!! Come on !!" said Dragan as he was being submissive towards his father.
"Wait a second," I said stopping them in their tracks.
"Does it also happen between father and son?" I asked it was a genuine question. And a serious one. Was Dragonkin just sexually frustrated creatures or something?
"It's looked down by the women," started Scandar. "If it's with the Generation, then they sort of look away boys will be boys type of thing - but a mother holds his child dear after all," he started roughhousing Dragan again.
Scandar in terms of muscle was very much the same if not bigger than Dragan. His night robe left very little to be desired in terms of clothing.
"Dragan had no other choice but to fight back, it got a little aggressive but after a while, they calmed down.
Just some father-son wrestling time. I took it more like lions playing with each other or like cats. Just big dumb muscle cats. Except they were Dragons.
Finally, they calmed down and sat down.
After some time - Scandar finally asked the big question. With a mad man's smile on his face.
"So - wanna know about Lore One?" he asked.
That's what we're here for in the first place.
I nodded furiously. - Yes, please.