Dragon Dilemma

by Mell Eight

  Alloy was attached to Mercury's side. Dane hadn't seen the two of them separated by more than an inch while he was running around over the last three hours. Dane had been dealing the with bodies, making sure Jessica hadn't left any booby traps in the house, double checking the integrity of his wards, and locating his computer so he could start what would be a lengthy search of the central territory by Mercury's people at the SupFeds and by Dane—without leaving his own territory, of course. Mercury had been coordinating with Valerie on the phone almost the entire time. Dane preferred to handle the bodies, especially since it gave Mercury and the SupFeds a chance to go on the offensive against the enemy scientists.

  There was no way of telling whether it was Alloy or Mercury who didn't want to let go. They were both completely freaked out by the attempted kitnapping and each as equally unwilling to be separated as the other. Mercury had walked around for an hour with his phone held to his ear and Alloy held in his arms. At the moment, they were both curled up together on the couch in the upstairs sitting area. The phone was dark on the table in front of them, waiting for Valerie to call back with an update. Aside from the addition of the phone, seeing them cuddled together was a sight Dane remembered often from five years ago when a newly hatched Alloy had escaped from Copper's overbearing clutches and crawled into Mercury's lap almost every evening.

  Mother was resting in her bedroom, recuperating her strength after being attacked and casting such a terrible spell. She had decided to leave first thing in the morning now that she had her answer as to whether Dane would be willing to leave his own territory and take over hers when she retired. Since the answer was a resounding no without any room for negotiation or coercion, Mother was leaving peacefully. Dane had a feeling that she would be visiting again soon enough. 'Ron had really taken a shine to her and Dane had little doubt that it wouldn't be long until she was be begging to have Grandma visit again.

  Thinking about Mother brought one of the other issues she had mentioned to the front of his mind. Dane sat down in one of the chairs in the sitting area, glad to be off his feet for the first time in hours, and turned to Mercury.

  Mercury was running his fingers through Alloy's red-and-blue hair, mixing the colored strands together between his long fingers. Alloy had his eyes closed and his head resting in Mercury's lap. He seemed content and halfway asleep. He wouldn't be disturbed if Dane asked his question.

  "Mercury, do you know how old you are?" Dane asked softly. Alloy didn't twitch at the noise, so maybe he was completely asleep.

  Mercury frowned in thought, then shrugged carefully so he didn't dislodge Alloy. He didn't seem upset about the question, which meant he wasn't hiding it from Dane; rather, he just hadn't bothered to bring up the subject. "I'm not really sure. I know I'm older than the paperwork the government has for me says."

  "How long were you in the wild once your parents left?" It was a sore subject for Mercury—for every dragon, really. No child should have to grow up without their parents and that terrible experience had scarred Mercury deeply.

  Mercury shrugged again. "Maybe twenty years? I honestly don't have any idea. When I got to Chicago and child services picked me up, they guessed that I was only fifteen, although I think there's still a question mark next to my birthdate on the birth certificate they had created for me. I'm still not sure why I was taken in instead of being sent back to the wild like most dragons, but I was in their system for the next seven years until even the broadest-minded foster homes couldn't continue to believe I wasn't eighteen yet. I don't think I looked much older than fifteen until I managed to complete high school on my own, which took a few years. Then I put myself through college and afterwards I spent maybe fifteen years living on my own before the enemy grabbed me."

  All of their kits looked their age. Nickel was only fourteen at the moment, but he had been growing steadily like any normal child. Dane didn't think Nickel would continue to look fifteen years old when he was twenty and older. It didn't mean that their kits were aging faster than Mercury. Rather, Dane thought it might have something to do with the conditions in which they grew up. Being small and quick in the wild helped keep dragons safe from predators, something his kits didn't need to worry about. It was also harder to find food in the wild, which meant inhibited growth. Mercury's body had probably spent those seven years in foster care trying to catch up. Once his body had reached its prime, somewhere in its late twenties while Mercury had been in college, Mercury's body had settled down. He had looked the same for all the years they had been living together, as unaging as Dane.

  "Mother told me she thought you were nearly one hundred years old," Dane explained. Mercury hadn't asked why Dane wanted the answer to his question, but Dane wanted to tell him anyway. "She said she came to visit because she thought she found a suitable mate for me, someone whose magic was strong enough they wouldn't leave me behind in fifty or so years. She had no idea that dragons were practically immortal too."

  "How old are you?" Mercury asked, his curiosity piqued.

  "I am almost four hundred," Dane replied. It was an easy enough answer. Like Mercury, Dane had grown to the point when his body was at its peak, then had stopped aging. He didn't get older every century like his mother.

  Mercury nodded, but didn't say anything more. Four hundred years was a lot of time to get his head around, Dane knew, as was the idea that they could be together, loving each other and raising their kits, for centuries. Mercury's fingers hadn't stilled in Alloy's hair while they spoke.

  Dane waited, trying to pretend that he wasn't holding his breath in anticipation. Mercury knew how long he would live and now he also knew how long Dane would also live. Their mere six years together was not anywhere close to six hundred. Dane was willing to give it a try, but was Mercury?

  Mercury's hand finally stilled in Alloy's hair. He looked up at Dane and his bronze eyes were sharp. Mercury hadn't missed Dane's anxiety.

  "There's going to be a lot of candles on our birthday cakes, aren't there?" he murmured. A second later, a smile grew on his face. "We'll just have to pick out bigger cakes to accommodate them."

  He said 'we', as in together forever. Dane let out the breath he was holding and returned Mercury's smile. He shifted forward in his seat, intent on leaning across the divide between their chairs and taking Mercury's lips with his. Which was the exact moment his wards alerted him that Nickel was home and had brought company.

  "Lunch time," Dane explained when he pulled away. Mercury's grin had an edge to it as he also pulled back. Dane felt a shiver of anticipation run up his spine. He knew what that look meant when they finally had the privacy of their bedroom door closed behind them.

  "Better start cooking," Mercury agreed. His hand returned to petting Alloy and his suggestive smile faded to a more innocent one as he looked down at his sleeping kit. Dane nodded in agreement and headed downstairs.

  *~*~*

  Dane could sense Nickel as Nickel walked into the house and headed directly to the kitchen. It was lunchtime and, like all the kits, Nickel knew that the best place to find one of their guardians was in the kitchen. He had two bouncing satellites circling him as he hurried over to where Dane was standing in front of the stove.

  Dane had to stifle a grin at the sight. William's two water dragons had clearly never seen an older and more experienced water dragon like Nickel. They had glued themselves to Nickel's side and it didn't appear they were going to give Nickel any space any time soon. Nickel appeared to be flattered by the attention. William, who had walked in after the kits, looked like he was calculating how he could use his kits' adoration of Nickel for his own benefit. Dane had a feeling visiting Nickel was going to become some sort of reward for good behavior.

  "No ambushes or any further sign of the enemy," Nickel reported. Dane nodded to show he had heard, but the milk in the gigantic pot he was standing over had finally started to boil, so he had to add in the cheese.

  Dane felt a tug on his pants leg and looked down to find
that one of the kits had detached from Nickel and was trying to get his attention.

  "Uncle Willy said we could stay for lunch if we asked nicely," the kit said.

  Nickel took the spoon from Dane's hands to continue stirring the sauce so Dane bent to look the kit in the eye.

  "How do you ask nicely?" Dane asked.

  The kit frowned and looked distressed when an answer wasn't readily forthcoming.

  "Oh, I know!" the other kit said, jumping up and down on Nickel's other side. "Uncle Willy said you have to say please!"

  The first kit's face brightened into an eager smile. "Please?" he asked.

  "Thank you for asking. You are more than welcome to stay. What's your name?" Dane asked.

  "I'm Aqua and that's Rios," the kit chirped. Mercury walked into the kitchen carrying Alloy and Aqua was immediately distracted at the sight of another kit. He hurried off and Dane stood back up to reclaim the spoon.

  "I know they're not traditional dragon names, but the kits couldn't remember their own names and don't mind the ones I gave them," William explained, sounding somewhat sheepish at the admission.

  "If it makes them happy," Dane said, knowing he didn't need to elaborate for William to understand. "You'll keep an eye out in your territory for other dragons in need?"

  "Absolutely," William replied immediately. "I already was going to once my kits finally started to settle in. Now that I've seen how you've corralled your kits, I don't think it would be a problem to help out a few more. Mercury mentioned something about a village you were setting up?"

  Dane nodded, but the timer he had set for the pasta went off before he could explain. "I'll tell you later," he said as he went to find a strainer.

  The lure of imminent food drew the kits to the kitchen from wherever they had spent the rest of the morning. The ones whose chores were to help set the table quickly took stacks of dishes to the dining room. With the addition of William and his kits, they didn't have enough room in the kitchen. Alloy finally detached himself from Mercury and was happily introducing himself and his family to Aqua and Rios, which meant when Lumie appeared Mercury could grab him in a hug.

  Lumie was fine and he protested being dragged upstairs to brush his teeth. Mother came downstairs with them once Lumie was clean and everyone settled down for lunch.

  Their family was large and crazy, Dane knew as the kits fought over who got mac and cheese first. He didn't even mind that it was growing steadily as new friends were made and Mother actually joked with 'Ron about which cheeses were better for mac and cheese.

  Mercury's hand crept into Dane's under the table and they shared a grin.

  It was all worth it. They were building their family together, and that made it perfect.

  Fin

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  When Mell Eight was in high school she wrote a short story for an English class. The assignment was for no more than five pages, yet she had turned in ten and the story wasn’t completed. Her teacher was impressed, but writing stories for fun was her main source of procrastination from homework; handing in an assignment that actually asked her to write fiction was too good to pass up. Since then Mell has continued writing, posting in many online communities for fanfiction and original fiction and eventually branching into slash fiction. She mostly writes paranormal or fantasy stories, but has been seen exploring the real world once or twice.

  For more information on Mell’s stories and future writing plans, visit her website:

  http://melleightfiction.weebly.com/