by Amelia Jade
“We’ll go over it again,” she promised. “You’re a quick learner; I don’t expect it to take long.”
He sat a little straighter at the compliment. She was impressed by him! It felt good to know that. Keeping it up was going to be tough. He suspected neither of them truly understood what it was going to take to get him up to speed on the world, but he was going to give it everything he had. It would be enough. It had to be.
“Okay, we’re here.”
He looked up to see a sign that read Drake’s Delicatessen & Desserts.
“What is this place?”
“You said you were hungry. So we’re here to get you some food. Also me, I’m starving.”
Aimee expertly guided them off the main path and into an area that seemed to be designated for storage of the various vehicles, as he’d learned they were also termed. So many different words to describe the same thing, it was making his head hurt. Food was definitely necessary.
He emerged, closing the door with more grace than he had upon entering. The look she’d given him then had told her he’d screwed up, and he didn’t want to do that again. All around him the press of the town weighed down on him as he stood there. Rhyolite wasn’t sure how they handled such density.
“Let’s go, Rhys.”
“Why do you call me that?” he asked. “My name is Rhyolite. Can you not put the effort into saying it? I do not want a new name. Or a short name.”
“Yeah, you need food.” Her tone indicated she was frustrated with him.
Too bad. He liked his name.
“There are two reasons. First, because I feel comfortable enough with you that I can be informal. Which is crazy, I don’t understand how, but I do. Even though you’re a dragon. Which is also crazy.”
He saw her looking around as she spoke.
“Are you looking for something?”
“Just to see if people are staring at me.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Well, if you’re not real, then I’m just talking to the air. That’s not normal, and people tend to stare at things that aren’t normal.”
Rolling his eyes, he walked around to where she stood on her side, grabbed Aimee’s bare hand, and pressed it to his face. “Do I feel fake?” he asked.
She shook her head meekly.
Then he grabbed her hand within his. “How about now?”
“No,” she squeaked, her hands tightening around his in what sounded like fear.
“I’m real. Not part of your imagination. You need to get over that,” he told her, frustrated at her inability to believe him.
He’d thought she was better than the others.
“Right,” she said, her voice strengthening. “The other reason is because you need to stay low.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” He crouched down.
“Eep!” Aimee cried out as she was dragged down as well.
Both of them looked down to notice that their hands were still joined together, neither of them having let go. That was odd…he could have sworn he’d let go right after she’d answered him.
Aimee was looking at it the same. Almost as one they opened their hands and pulled them apart. She stood, he remained crouched.
“What are you doing?”
“You told me to stay low? I’m trying to do as you recommend.” He was getting irritated with her lack of direction. Just say what she meant.
“What? No, I mean, under the radar, not literally.”
Radar? He looked around. Did she mean the car? That must be it, there was nothing else that she could mean. Frowning, he got onto the ground and started to slide underneath her vehicle, wondering why it was necessary. He never hesitated though. This was clearly important to Aimee, and he wanted to show her he could work with her.
“What are you doing now?” She sounded as exasperated as he felt.
“You told me to get under Radar. This is Radar, is it not?”
“Oh, shit. Never mind. Get out, stand up.”
“Please explain,” he growled as he got back up, brushing himself off.
“What I was trying to say, is that you need to stay inconspicuous. Remain unnoticed. Don’t draw any attention to yourself, or the fact that you’re a dragon.”
“Ah. Well, that is why I’m in my human form, is it not?”
Aimee buried her face in her hands. “Yes, obviously. But I mean, having a really odd-sounding name could also draw attention to you. Attention I don’t want on you.”
She flinched as she spoke, seeming to regret her word choice.
“Why not?”
“Uh, because we don’t need the attention. Trust me, the public as a whole is not ready for this. You need to just fit in for now, to act like the rest of us.”
Rhys stood up, looking around at all he saw. The wonders of this new age were beyond the scope of anything he could have imagined, that was true. The cars and helicopters and cell phones. All of it was far more than he could believe. Humanity had come a long way. But when he looked past all that…
“I’m not sure I wish to fit in,” he said, mentally filtering out all the fantastic technology.
Now he just saw them.
“Why not? What’s wrong with that?” Aimee asked, crossing her arms.
Rhyolite barely noticed her action, his gaze focusing elsewhere. “Because. Look at them. So weak and frail. I could sweep them aside with such ease they’d never know what hit them.” He shrugged. “They would kill me, you know. If they knew what I was. All humans do that eventually. To them I am a freak, an outsider. It’s not scary—they couldn’t harm me—but their shortsightedness, their immediate reaction of fear and revulsion to the unknown. It irks me. No, I do not wish to become a part of the masses.”
By now Aimee was shaking, her eyes burning a hole in the side of his head. He swiveled his gaze back around to rest on her. Before he could speak again she spun on her heel and stalked off through the vehicle storage lot. He raised his eyebrows in question, trying to figure out what had just gone on.
“Was it something I said?”
She kept walking. Frustrated, he curled a hand up into a fist, flexing and relaxing it several times. Hints of steam curled from his nostrils, whisked away by the cool winter breeze before anyone could realize that it wasn’t just from him breathing. Watching her walk away sucked. There was no more delicate way to put it. Every step she took hammered a nail deeper into his gut, trying to pin it to his spine.
Finally he could take it no more. “Aimee!” he called, breaking out into a jog and easily catching up with her. “Wait, Aimee. What happened? What has you so mad?”
“You!” she snapped, much to his surprise.
He’d been expecting much more of a fight to pull the truth from her, but it seemed that Aimee was ready to unload on him.
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” she hissed, keeping her voice down but managing to fill it with more fury than he’d thought should be possible. “You’re arrogant to the point that it isn’t believable. It must be some sort of sick joke, how much better you think of yourself than us puny little humans.” She altered her voice over the last few words, making it deeper, mocking him. “You do remember that I am one of those humans that you just so casually insulted, right? I’m no better or worse than any of them.”
Rocking back on his heels at her outburst, he considered her words. Aimee was right, he realized immediately. He had forgotten that she was like them. For some reason he hadn’t lumped her in with them, automatically assuming that she was better than them. But why? She made a good point. Aimee was human, like everyone around him.
He locked eyes on her again, admiring the beauty in her face even as it reflected her ire back at him. The gray of her eyes had become the dark thunderheads of a storm, brewing and ready to unleash its destruction against anything it could latch on to, namely him in this case. Her eyebrows were lowered and pressing together in the center, matching the tempest in her eyes, while her lips had curled in
ward, hiding their luscious fullness to the world as they helped armor her up for a fight she expected to come.
“You’re right,” he said bluntly, trying to defuse the situation. “I am superior physically to humans. That is not up for argument, and I know despite your anger, you are aware of this too.”
The gale subsided somewhat, but it remained, poised to strike should he falter at any stage. A quick, sharp nod of her head indicated her agreement with his statement as well as a prompt for him to continue.
“But perhaps I should not be so quick to judge humanity.” He waved a hand around, his thoughts scrambling to catch up with his words. “After all, look at everything that you have created. Perhaps none of you are blessed with my physical gifts, but it would appear that while I have been asleep, your minds have blossomed.” He stopped, unsure of what else to say.
Aimee regarded him for several long moments, and then her eyebrows slowly unknotted. “I suppose that, for you, that was an epiphany-level statement, wasn’t it?”
He frowned. “Did you just call me dumb?”
“Yes.”
“Ouch.”
“Now you know how it feels.”
Just like that, Rhyolite suddenly understood. The anger that had appeared out of nowhere in Aimee wasn’t a fury directed at him, or at least not completely. No, it was armor, a hurricane of rage that had hid from him the true emotion she’d been feeling.
Pain.
He took a step backward as everything slotted into place. “Aimee,” he rumbled softly. “I am so sorry. I did not intend to hurt you. I spoke out of place. Will you forgive me?”
Rhys felt terrible. The only human in the world who knew him for his true self, and who hadn’t rallied the mob against him, and he’d gone and insulted her so thoroughly he wasn’t sure she would ever forgive him. Aimee was so much more than what he considered the others to be, but that didn’t matter. She saw herself as one of them, and until he could show her how much better she was, he had to keep that in mind. All she saw was him insulting her, when instead he’d meant it about the others.
Just then he wished the bronze dragon was around, so that he could start a fight and get the beatdown he probably deserved. Maybe if he slept for another few centuries he could forget this embarrassment.
But if you do that, Aimee will die before you can make amends.
Amends. That was it.
“I wish to make it up to you,” he said, getting the words out quickly before she could respond. “How, in this day and age, would I go about doing that?”
Chapter Ten
Aimee
“Shopping spree?”
The words just sort of slipped out.
“Excellent!”
She blinked. “What? I mean, okay, great!”
Rhys looked around. “Where is this spree of shopping, and how do I get one for you?”
The excitement turned immediately to laughter at both his eagerness and cluelessness. Part of her was frustrated at her quickness to forgive him. She should be angry for longer, a chance to really work up a good temper, to let it all out. Instead, he’d shown remorse and she’d been trigger-happy on the forgiveness.
He didn’t mean to hurt you though, you know that. It’s just old, old prejudices seeping through that he hasn’t yet learned to control. Humanity has come a long way in your mind; it’s been centuries. To him it was just a few days ago that he was exposed to the early indigenous tribes. You’re going to have to give him time.
The more she thought about it, the more remarkable it seemed that he was able to swing with the punches so ably. Aimee doubted a human plucked from a hundred years before would be so willing to admit that his ways were antiquated and obsolete. Perhaps his long lifespan necessitated the need for change, since he would have to do so over and over again to keep up with the much faster-paced human lifestyle?
“Aimee?”
She gave her head a tiny shake and focused on Rhys. “Yes?”
“Where do I get this spree?”
“Uh, it’s not a thing itself. It means that we go and I buy lots of clothes and things and you pay for it all.”
Rhys nodded slowly. “It would appear that we have finally discovered something that hasn’t changed much between my time and yours.” He laughed briskly, snagging her arm and resting her hand on his forearm.
She thought about fighting it, but the iron-like feel of his muscles under her fingers stopped her.
“Things were like that over here?” she asked, confused.
“No.” He started walking them toward the delicatessen that had been their original destination. “I once made a trip overseas, about a century after leaving my homeland. I stayed for perhaps ten, maybe twenty years. Not long, more of a visit, you know?”
She just nodded, trying to process the idea of a twenty year “visit” to anywhere.
“Anyway, the ladies in…what did you call it, Europe? Yes, they loved to buy new dresses and gowns and all sorts of things. I spent a goodly fortune trying to win the favor of one of them.”
Aimee worked her jaw, trying not to get upset at the mention of his previous conquests.
Get real, girl. He was alive for five hundred years. Do you really expect him to have remained a virgin? Don’t be a bitch, he’s not trying to regale you with tales of his prowess in bed, he’s simply trying to find a way to relate his life to your world.
“Truth be told though, she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as you.”
Her jaw dropped open at that proclamation. It was the first open flirtatious compliment that he’d given her. “Ah, thank you?” she stammered.
“Although, I must say, orange really isn’t your color.”
She’d just managed to wire her jaw shut when he dropped the other bomb on her, and she coughed several times.
“Orange?” The word finally croaked out, her voice sounding like a frog.
“Yes, you know, the outfit you wore the first time I saw you.”
“Oh, that.” She sighed in relief. “That’s my work outfit. It’s not meant to flatter. It’s for utility.”
Rhys stepped forward abruptly and snagged the door, holding it open. “After you,” he said with a gesture of his hand.
She stood up straighter and nodded her head as demurely as she could. Acting like a cultured lady was not exactly her forte. Cuss like a drunken sailor? Done. Drink for drink with the boys? Absolutely. Jump out of a helicopter with only a quarter-inch line holding her back from certain death? No hesitation. But act like someone of status, or even noble blood like he was probably used to interacting with? Good luck. She could curtsy without falling over. Probably.
Her dragon door-holder swept up beside her as they entered, and stopped abruptly.
“Problem?” she asked, coming to a halt beside him, not bothering to fight it as he snagged her arm again. Truthfully, she was coming to enjoy being on his arm. A number of other women had given her jealous looks, and she was lapping it up. It was so different than the normal looks she got, either for being tall or for how in shape she was. Neither of those looks were overly friendly, and these weren’t either, but the jealousy was a nice boost to her ego that she wasn’t too proud to deny herself.
“Ah, slightly.”
“The menu options are printed on the signs up behind the counter,” she told him, realizing he likely had no idea what to do. “Up here on the glass are some images of them.”
He picked up the process quickly and they sat down to eat, fresh sandwiches piled in front of them. Aimee had no idea what he would like, so she’d gotten him turkey, roast beef, and a meatball sub to top it off. She’d told him he only needed to eat what he liked, and had received a rather strange look in return.
“I guess you were hungry,” she said ten minutes later as the last of the meatball sub disappeared, leaving all the plates in front of him empty.
Not to be outdone, hers was empty as well, though to be fair, she’d only had the one sandwich to start.
“I feel
like I haven’t eaten in centuries.” He patted his stomach. “That was delicious. Thank you for taking me to such a wonderful place. I can’t believe the selection!”
She grinned. “They’re all like that, you know.”
The look on his face was priceless. She savored it for quite some time. Rhys was going to like the future, she was positive of it.
It was the moments like this that were beginning to convince her that there was a decent person buried under his outer arrogance. What she needed to do was figure out what had caused him to develop such a grudge against humanity. Why he saw them as so…pathetic.
“Do all dragons view humans the way you do?” she asked, speaking low so as not to clue anyone else in to their conversation. “As next to nothing?”
He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Probably. We’re invulnerable to anything you can do, so it’s only natural to think that way, no?”
Aimee considered his words. “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course.”
She stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her. “Let’s go.”
Rhys yelped as he was dragged along in her wake.
Chapter Eleven
Rhyolite
“Where are we going?” he asked for the tenth time as they walked through town, his head craning left and right trying to take everything in.
He was starting to get his bearings, enough to realize that as they walked, the buildings grew smaller and farther apart.
“To get some exercise. It’s about ten minutes up the road from here by foot,” she said, her hand still latched onto his.
He’d thought about dropping it after it had no longer been necessary for dragging him along, but he was enjoying the closeness with her, and suspected she was as well. At several points during their walk he’d contemplated stopping and pulling her around and into him so that he could kiss her.
The urge to do so was getting stronger as they walked. Her hand fit perfectly into his, and he continued to marvel at her height. For once he wouldn’t have to bend in half to kiss someone. She would but have to tilt her head backward a little. He glanced over at her now, the high ponytail of golden-blonde hair cascading down her back, the last foot or so swishing back and forth in time with her steps, giving it a life of its own.
