Roommates

by Valerie Reyes

  “We find a cave like this, somewhere out of the way that we can disguise, but we’d need it near a good water source, and maybe somewhere with a large clearing, like with deers or buffalloos. Since there are little ones, we’ll have to find something close by to food and water since it’s dangerous for them to leave the cave… but the best bet would be to try and make it back to the tribe where we can be looked after,” Kayzer said, he didn’t really want to do that, but it would make things a lot easier for both of them, as they wouldn’t have to hunt on their own, and there would always be support, so long as they accepted what had happened.

  Weighing what Kayzer was saying in with his own personal feelings, and the knowledge that making a nest and creating a safe haven for them was rather unrealistic, Ralph decided that the best thing for them to do would be to press on once Kayzer felt fit to do so.

  “All right. We will just go to your tribe and ask them for help. It’s the only thing that I think that we can do,” Ralph said. “But, you take whatever time you need to before we head out. I don’t want you pushing yourself after just giving birth,” he added. There would be nothing to gain from that, but everything to lose.

  “Thank you,” Kayzer replied softly, using the last of his energy to heat up the fire a bit more before turning back into human form. He wanted to cuddle up in the sleeping bags with the eggs, and Ralph, keep warm and just relax a little. That would be their goal for the day. “When you skin the rabbits, be sure to leave their coats. We can use that to keep the eggs warm when we’re travelling… keep them safe.”

  “Good idea,” Ralph said, and pulled out his knife to get to work on the rabbits. Everything was still so surreal for him, though. He didn’t know what to think about everything that was happening to him. He had children! Or at least he would have, if those eggs hatched. He usually didn’t have unprotected sex, but the one time that he did, he was going to have babies? He just wasn’t sure he was ready to be a father, but when he looked over at Kayzer, he felt a warm feeling in his core. Kayzer was beautiful, that was for sure, and he was a kind soul at that. Still, this was rather sudden.

  “Hey, Kayzer,” Ralph began as he worked away at the rabbit skins. “Are you okay with all of this? The babies ... Me ... Everything?” Kayzer wasn’t sure how to respond to Ralph’s question. He didn’t know if he was okay with having children just yet. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to protect them or offer them a good life. They weren’t going to be normal dragons, they’d be half human as well, so Kayzer honestly didn’t know what to expect, but as long as he didn’t have to face this alone, he felt he could take on this new challenge in his life.

  “It’s all happened so suddenly, but I suppose I’m as okay as I can be. I want to be able to look after them, protect them. They need to have someone to support them. It’s not going to be an easy life for the little guys, so I have to be there. I honestly didn’t think I’d get pregnant. I didn’t think it would even be possible for a human to get me pregnant, but it’s happened, and I’m going to see it through. So, yeah. I’m okay with it.”

  Kayzer spoke so matter of factly that Ralph almost felt bad for having second thoughts about this whole thing. Part of him couldn’t help it though. He wasn’t prepared to be a father, especially not the father of two dragons! Yet, the world didn’t care what he was prepared for. It demanded certain things of him, and he would have to take them as they came. He just wasn’t sure exactly how he was supposed to deal with them.

  “What about us? What are we supposed to do now? I won’t be able to stay with your tribe, and you won’t be able to come and see me safely with the babies, will you?” Ralph asked.

  “Why can’t you stay with the tribe?” Kayzer asked, a little bit of surprise in his voice. Kayzer didn’t want to do this without Ralph. Ralph was their daddy, he couldn’t leave his kids all alone. They were supposed to be a family now, or that’s what Kayzer thought. He was under the impression they would live together with the tribe, to make a home for themselves in the mountains. That way, they could all stay together and be happy.

  “I thought your tribe wouldn’t want a human around? Not to mention, I can’t just leave my family without a second thought like that,” Ralph replied. He loved his family dearly, though if it came down to it he might have left them to take care of Kayzer and the babies, but he didn’t think that the tribe would even accept him.”I mean, I would leave my family as long as I had a chance to say goodbye and explain why I was leaving, but your tribe wouldn’t just accept me so easily, would they?”

  “It’s not going to be easy to convince them, but they won’t just chuck out one of their own. When we get things settled there, I’ll take you to see your family. I can fly you down to visit any time you want to. I promise, you won’t have to abandon them. We’ll work something out, we just need somewhere safe for the eggs to grow and hatch, after that, when they’re big enough, we can find a suitable place closer to your family so you can spend time there. I don’t want you to lose your family in this,” Kayzer said, as he was willing to be flexible about this and not just keep Ralph to himself. As long as he knew that he and Ralph were together and were going to see this through, he was happy. That was enough for him.

  Hearing that, Ralph was a bit more at ease. As long as things worked out so he didn’t have to completely leave his family, then he would be happy to be a good father and do what he should do by staying with Kayzer and helping him raise the babies.

  “All right. As long as we can get all of that worked out, then I would like to stay with you. This is really sudden for me, and I didn’t expect this to come out of nowhere like it did, but . . . As long as I get to stay with you, and can still see my family every now and then, I won’t complain,” Ralph said. He was just finishing skinning the rabbits, so he paused to take them outside and let the sun bake them so they could be dry. Then he returned inside the cave and began cooking the meat.

  Kayzer was certainly glad Ralph wanted to stay with him, that was the comfort he needed right now. So, he relaxed and got snuggled up in the sleeping bag, holding the eggs in his arms as he closed his eyes and let Ralph cook the rabbit stew on the fire. It was lovely, smelling the rabbit meat and vegetables being soaked in that little pot, Ralph did well bringing all the supplies they needed to have some decent grub. So, Kayzer just remained snoozing away until lunch was ready.

  Ralph sent a good hour making the stew, then he went over to Kayzer and ran his fingers gently down Kayzer’s side and gave him a kiss on the lips to wake him up. He was absolutely adorable when he slept, so Ralph couldn’t resist those luscious lips. The kiss was a nice surprise, and Kayzer honestly loved it. That certainly brought a smile to his face and he opened his eyes to look up at the handsome man that was in front of him.

  “Hello there, gorgeous.”

  “You took the words right out of my mouth, beautiful,” Ralph said gently, smiling a bit. “You ready to get some breakfast? Or I guess it’s late enough to say lunch now . . . Sorry about that,” Ralph added, shrugging a bit in apology.

  “Food is food, as long as I’m sharing it with you I’m happy,” Kayzer replied, sitting up and stretching a little. With that satisfied, he got the eggs all wrapped up, then left the sleeping bag to join Ralph by the fair to enjoy a nice meal with his partner. “It smells absolutely delicious.”

  Ralph served Kayzer a bowl of stew so he didn’t have to get it himself, and then served himself. He was glad Kayzer approved, because he felt like he really had to be good to Kayzer after getting him pregnant during his very first sexual encounter. That was uncalled for, and even though Ralph didn’t mean to, he did feel rather guilty about it.

  With the warm stew in hands, Kayzer was quick just to munch it down and feel the wholesome food in his system. This was just what he needed after this bizarre morning, and it made him feel rather refreshed and whole again.

  “You are perfect, you know that?”

  “I think you’re still half asleep there, Kayz,” Ral
ph replied with a chuckle, then refilled Kayzer’s bowl. He needed plenty of food, Ralph was sure, so he was happy to give Kayzer the bigger portion of the food. Kayzer always ate more than Ralph considering he was a dragon after all, but he had just given birth, so Ralph knew he’d need even more food to sate him.

  “Even if I am, that doesn’t really change the way I feel about you,” Kayzer giggled a little, and happily munched down his next bowl of food. He was thankful Ralph was treating him so well. He honestly didn’t know what he would do without this amazing man by his side. Ralph could have very easily ran off and cut Kayzer and the hatchlings out of his life, and Kayzer would have no way to find him or contact him, but Ralph didn’t do that. He stayed by his side, even though it wasn’t easy. Kayzer could ask for nothing more than that.

  Ralph kept a close eye on Kayzer, making sure he didn’t doze off or anything of that nature as he ate. Honestly, Ralph had no idea what giving birth entailed. It was something he never would know. However, he did feel overly protective of Kayzer now, and he wanted to make sure that nothing happened.

  It didn’t take long for Kayzer to finish off another bowl of his food, and once that was done he retreated to the sleeping bag for, presumably, the rest of the day. He hoped Ralph would snuggle up with him for a while, as he did want a cuddle, and to talk as well.

  Ralph made sure to clean up after their meal, because Kayzer certainly wasn’t fit for it. So, he took the bowls and spoons to a nearby stream, rinsed it, then brought them back and set them in a nice place to dry. Then he went over to the sleeping bag and sat down next to Kayzer, brushing his fingers through Kayzer’s hair. The comforting gesture certainly brought a smile to Kayzer’s face as he looked up at Ralph. This hadn’t been an easy day, but Kayzer was grateful that Ralph was by his side every step of the way.

  “So, since we’re going to be staying together, does that make you my mate? Ah, what do you humans say… boyfriend, that’s it. We’re boyfriends now, right?”

  “Yes, it does make us boyfriends,” Ralph replied, smiling a little bit at Kayzer’s use of the word “mate.” That word just didn’t sound right to Ralph’s ears, but they could call themselves whatever they liked, he supposed. “As long as you want me to be, I’ll stick with you.”

  “I want you. So, yes, I want us to be boyfriends,” Kayzer replied, pulling Ralph down to have another nice kiss with him. He was cherishing all these little moments he could get with his wonderful new boyfriend, though, at least now he wasn’t scared of his lover being taken away from him anymore.

  Ralph returned the kiss and ran his fingers down Kayzer’s sides, then pressed their bodies together. He was so enamored with Kayzer that he didn’t know what to do with himself, but he was really glad that Kayzer and he were going to be together. It was a bit scary to think of them being a family so soon, but he would just embrace it.

  During Kayzer’s recovery, Ralph was patient and did his best to take care of Kayzer. Though they weren’t sure how long the eggs would take to hatch, considering they formed inside of Kayzer and were birthed so quickly, the eggs seemed dormant still. That meant that they would have time to get to the mountains, hopefully. So, Ralph continued taking care of everything as best he could untill Kayzer felt fit to travel again, and then they got on their journey, taking special care to protect the eggs as they headed north.

  Gradually the paths got steeper and more treacherous as they advanced to their end goal, and carrying the eggs became somewhat more dangerous. This slowed their advancement considerably, but they managed to get to Kayzer’s old home in just over a week, tired and travel weary though they may be.

  To get to clan, Kayzer had to turn into his dragon form to fly Ralph and the eggs up to their home. They were greeted with open arms by the other dragons who soon lead the way to bring Ralph and Kayzer to his parents who were waiting at the house for them. Kayzer’s mother was quick to go over to her son and nuzzle him gently, so happy to see he was alive and well, while his father simply smiled and let his wife coo over their rescued son.

  “We thought something terrible had happened to you! We looked for you for weeks, but we couldn’t find you anywhere. You just vanished. We were beginning to fear the worst,” Antylia said, her voice filled with joy to see her boy was okay, and had survived that horrible ordeal in the wild.

  “Thank you, mother. It could have been the worst case scenario if it wasn’t for Ralph. He saved me and looked after me. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” Kayzer said, turning his head over to Ralph and smiling, happy to let his boyfriend introduce himself to his parents.

  Once Kayzer brought him up, Ralph smiled and waved to the two larger dragons, then he carefully slipped off of Kayzer’s back, carrying the eggs in a little front pack that he had fashioned from furs specifically to keep the eggs somewhere manageable during travel.

  “Hello. It’s nice to meet you two. I’m Ralph. I found Kayzer in a kinda tight spot. He was captured by some humans, but I freed him and we made our way here,” Ralph explained, not bringing up the fact that he’d done more with Ralph that just be his travel buddy. He didn’t think that such information should come from him, so he wasn’t going to broach that subject.

  “Well, I’m glad he is back home safe. Thank you for the help. You may go now and be back with your own tribe now that Kayzer is home safe.” Antylia said, though Kayzer was quick to respond, as he was going to make sure Ralph could stay with him, otherwise he wouldn’t be staying here.

  “About that. Mother, is it possible for Ralph to stay here?” Kayzer asked softly, but the expression on Antylia’s face seemed to be enough to answer his question.

  “Why would the human stay here?” Antylia replied, a tone of confusion seeping into her voice.

  “Well, Ralph’s my mate. I know I’m a little younger than the usual age, but I care about him, and we have two hatchlings on the way. I was hoping he could stay here and we could look after the hatchlings together,” Kayzer explained, but he could already see that his request was going to be denied by the look of horror on his parent’s face. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but he had no idea just how disgusted they were at the thought of a dragon being with a human.

  “You mated with a human?” Conzour snapped, taking a step towards his son as he looked him in the eye to get a truthful answer. Kayzer immediately took a step back, sheltering Ralph with his wing for a moment, to make sure he didn’t get hurt.

  “Yes I-”

  “How could you do that? It is against tradition. It is against everything we have ever taught you. How could you be so stupid?”

  “Father, I-”

  “Don’t you “father” me. You will destroy those eggs and you will leave the human to make his way home and this is to never be mentioned again. Am I clear?” Conzour snapped once again, and now Kayzer was the one who looked horrified. His father really wanted him to just destroy his eggs before they even had a chance to live? To abandon Ralph like he was nothing? That just wasn’t possible. Kayzer couldn’t do it, so he had to fight back.

  “No!” Kayzer shouted back, but it seemed to only enrage his father more.

  “You will do as you’re told, Kayzer. You will give me those eggs or you will be banished from the tribe for the rest of your life. Am I understood?” Conzour growled, but Kayzer didn’t say anything in return. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He didn’t know what was the safest option, but there was no way he’d give up his children.

  “Give me the eggs, now,” Conzour said again, and soon looked at Ralph and approached him. Ralph nervously took a few steps back to keep Conzour from getting to close. It was clear to Ralph that he could smell the eggs from his pouch, and he was just going to take them for himself. Luckily until Kayzer stepped in. A bellowing roar escaped his muzzle as he lifted himself onto his hind legs and clawed Conzour across his face. After that, he turned, grabbed Ralph and quickly ran out of there. He may have been half the size of his parents, but he
was a hell of a lot quicker.

  Kayzer managed to get out of their home and into the air before Conzour even managed to recover from his hit. He had to get as far away from the tribe as possible now. It wasn’t safe for them there. Kayzer honestly thought that there wouldn’t have been too many issues with it, sure it was strange, but he thought his parents would still accept him and help him out. Clearly he was wrong.

  Kayzer just flew, not saying a word. Ralph clung to Kayzer, and to the eggs, for a number of hours until they reached one of their old caves where he set down so they could make camp for the night. Kayzer wasn’t sure what they would do, but they needed to rest and to eat, then they would figure out where they went from here.

  “Do you think we’ll be safe?” Ralph asked. He didn’t know if Kayzer’s family could track them down, but he certainly hoped not.

  “We should be safe. We’ve been all over the place, so even if they do follow our scent, they’ll be lead on a wild goose chase around the woods,” Kayzer said, then changed to his human form so they could get ready for bed. His wings hurt from being used so much while they still needed to heal, so he really needed the rest now.

  “Okay, that’s a good point,” Ralph said, carefully setting down the eggs and his backpack, then spreading out the sleeping bag so that Kayzer could get some rest. He looked wrecked after all the flying, and Ralph wanted to let him get in a nap at least while he went hunting for dinner. “Do you want to lie down for a bit?” he asked.

  “That would be good. Thank you,” Kayzer said softly, and then went to snuggle into the sleeping bag to get some rest. He was emotionally and physically wrecked, so some rest was definitely something Kayzer was craving right about now.