“All right. I’m going to go out to get some food, but I’ll be back before long, okay?” Ralph said, gently petting Kayzer’s hair as he laid down to go to bed.
“Alright, wake me when you get back, “ Kayzer said, gently pulling Ralph into a quick kiss before he left.
“Of course,” Ralph replied, and then he made sure everything looked in order before leaving, taking his slingshot and a rucksack with him for the hunt. The hunting itself took about an hour, but when he returned he had plenty of food to last the two of them for a day, and he hoped that they would get going soon so they could make it back to his farm where they could find a safe haven to finally rest. Or, rather Ralph hoped there would be a safe haven there.
Once he got back to the cave, he put the rabbits he caught on skewers so that he could roast them, then he built a fire pit and commenced with the cooking. He sure was glad that his mother taught him how to cook, otherwise he wouldn’t have fared well on this journey.
While everything was cooking, and seeing as it would take a while, Ralph went over to Kayzer and brushed his fingers through Kayzer’s hair, trying to just gently wake him up. It didn’t take long though, as Kayzer woke up with a loud yawn and a nice big stretch, looking up at his boyfriend with a nice big smile.
“It’s like I’m waking up to an angel from my dreams every time I see you,”
“You’re so cheesy,” Ralph said with a chuckle, giving Kayzer a kiss and then ruffling his hair a bit. Kayzer was just the cutest thing. He was almost excited at the prospect of bringing him back home. After seeing how Kayzer’s family reacted to their union, he wasn’t all that scared of what his mother and father would say. After all, his mother and father simply weren’t as scary as a big dragon barreling after them with the intent to kill, so no matter how badly they took the news, Ralph knew it would at least go better than the conversation with Kayzer’s parents, and so he at least knew that things weren’t going to get much worse than they already were.
“Nothing wrong with a bit of cheese,” Kayzer chuckled, and sat up and just wrapped his arms around his lover, just cuddling him and enjoying the feel of Ralph’s body next to his. “What’s our plan anyway? Where do you go from here?”
“We’re going to go back to my family, and they’ll take care of us. I know that they won’t run us off or anything. Maybe they’ll be a bit apprehensive at first, seeing as we aren’t really a typical couple, but once they see we’re expecting, they won’t make us fend for ourselves,” Ralph said. They would have to be extra careful to keep the babies out of public eye, but being on a farm like they were, that wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility.
“As long as they don’t react like my parents did, then we’ll be fine,” Kayzer sighed, just nuzzling up to Ralph and holding him tight. He didn’t think his parents would take it well, but he didn’t expect things to go hat for. It was rather disheartening.
“No, no. They won’t take it that hard. They’ll yell at me about having kids this early in my life, and they will probably give you an earful too. And it might take them a little while to get used to the thought of having dragons for grandchildren, but they’ll warm up to it,” Ralph said comfortingly.
“I’m happy enough to be lectured if it means we have somewhere safe to stay. I can work on the farm and help out as well, and I’m sure the kids will too once they are old enough,” Kayzer suggested, as he was happy to pull his own weight. He was happy to keep hunting too, as long as Ralph’s parents were okay with that, so that way he and the kids would always have fresh meat when they were hungry. The main thing was that he would be good, and do whatever he was told. He didn’t want to mess this up, for Ralph’s sake anyway.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be safe,” Ralph replied, giving Kayzer a hug and kiss to reaffirm that to him. Safety was Ralph’s main goal here, because he wanted to be able to raise his family without fear of losing them or them getting attacked. Whatever it took to get to that point was fine.
The meat was just finishing up over the fire, so Ralph went and served the food he had made on plates and sat down to eat it with Kayzer. He brought plenty of vegetables, herbs and fruit to eat, so the meal would be filling. Kayzer stuck to Ralph like glue once he had sat down and gave him his food. He just leaned against his partner and nibbled away at his meat, just savoring their time together. There was quite an overwhelming feeling of anxiousness flowing through Kayzer’s system, as he was terrified of what might happen if they were found by his parents. He hoped they wouldn’t look for him. Things were bad enough as it was without them making it any worse.
“Thank you, for being there for me. If I had of been on my own and the eggs came out then… when I was with my parents… They would have had them destroyed. I wouldn’t have been able to protect them. I really am glad that I have you to look out for me,”
“I’m really glad too,” Ralph said, pulling Kayzer into a hug and giving him a kiss before returning to the task of eating his food, hungrily scarfing it all down and then cuddling up to Kayzer while he ate. “How long do you think we should rest before we start traveling again?”
“We’ll rest for the night and leave at dawn. I’m too tired to fly. I’ll be able to fly in the morning and should get us close to your farm house. It shouldn’t take much longer, it’s not like we’ll have to walk everywhere now, my wings are good enough to fly. I’ll just rest when we settle,” Kayzer said, as he was in a rush to leave this place, but they couldn’t well leave if they were exhausted. So, the most productive thing to do was rest the night and set off in the morning, making their usual stops for meals, and maybe even reach their destination at nightfall if the wind was in their favour.
“All right. The sooner we can get out of here and get to my parent’s farmhouse, the better,” Ralph said. He was as antsy to get out of the cave and into relative civilization, where Kayzer’s tribe wouldn’t tread, as soon as possible.
Once all the food was eaten, Ralph took the dishes and rinsed them in a nearby stream, then he returned to the cave and got into the sleeping bag. It was still day, but he wanted to get some rest. He had been working hard since Kayzer’s pregnancy, and this was the first break he really had, so he was going to take advantage of it.
“I’m going to take a nap. You want to join me?” Ralph asked.
“Of course I would,” Kayzer said, as he was happy to sleep now, and leave once they were finished. Dusk or dawn, it didn’t matter, as long as they were fit and ready Kayzer was willing to get out of their as fast as possible so they could leave this place behind them. So, he crawled over to Ralph and slithered his way into the sleeping bag, just wrapping his arms around Ralph and snuggling into his chest. “Night night.”
“Night, beautiful,” Ralph replied softly, giving Kayzer a kiss on the forehead and then holding him tightly and drifting off to sleep. Once asleep, he slept the whole day and most of the night, just waking up in the early morning the next day. He had been absolutely exhausted by all the hustling and bustling about recently, so the chance to finally relax and sleep was one that was very welcomed.
When he did wake, he stretched and yawned, feeling quite hungry now. So, seeing as they only made one meal out of the foot he’d foraged yesterday, he got busy making a breakfast out of the leftovers. Kayzer had actually managed to sleep through all of Ralph’s rummaging about, as flying was an exhausting process, especially with holes in your wings. Sure, they had healed quite a bit, but there were still some there. Kayzer was just glad to get the rest while Ralph was the perfect partner and was cooking up their grub.
Ralph made a huge breakfast, considering there were quite a bit of leftovers thanks to no one eating any lunch or dinner yesterday due to sleep. That done, he went over to the sleeping bag and just pulled Kayzer onto his lap, showering him with kisses to wake him up for breakfast. It certainly didn’t take long for Kayzer’s eyes to open. A smile perched itself onto his lips and he pulled Ralph into a nice tongued up kiss before taking the plate filled wi
th food.
“Honestly, I feel like I died in that circus and I’m just spending time in heaven with an angel now.”
Ralph wasn’t sure how to take that comment from Kayzer. It was supposed to be a compliment of course, but Ralph didn’t want to even think about Kayzer dead, so it wasn’t a very welcome one. He shifted a bit uncomfortably as he sat cross legged on the stone floor of the cave. “I’m just glad that you got out of the circus okay.”
“I wouldn't have without you,” Kayzer said, as he knew the moment he lashed out, or became too tired to carry on, he would have just been chopped up and made into an ornament. His scales as armour, his claws for tools and his wings as trophies. That would have been his fate, if it wasn't for Ralph.
“I really don’t want to think about that, Kayzer. I’m just glad you’re with me now,” Ralph said, trying to cut that topic off before it blossomed into anything more. The cruelty with which Kayzer was treated was absolutely disgusting, and it made Ralph feel terrible just to be the same species as the monsters who hurt Kayzer so badly.
"Oh, sorry," Kayzer said, though wasn't too sure why Ralph seemed upset about the topic. It was the truth as far as Kayzer was concerned. Still, he just ate his food and took their dishes to wash in the stream this time, seeing as Ralph was usually the one to do it, then came back nd helped finished up the packing.
Ralph was glad that they dropped the topic, and once they were settled and had everything packed up, Ralph put on the garment to hold the eggs and grabbed the backpack to get ready for Kayzer to transform.
"We're just going to head southwest from where we are now and we will end up near my parent’s farm. I think once we're about a mile out form the farm, you should transform back and we should walk so we don't have to scare ma and pa, okay?"
"Alright, just direct me when we're in the air. I'll keep so you can keep track of our navigation, " Kayzer said, then morphed into his dragon form, stretching his wings for a moment before lying down on the floor so Ralph could hop on.
"Sounds good to me," Ralph said and climbed onto Kayzer’s back, then secured himself and the bags on a safe spot on Kayzer’s back, then he let Kayzer take off, giving him directions all the while.
With Ralph comfortable and holding on tight, Kayzer left the cave, spread his wings and lifted into the air. They flew just above the treetops, gliding in the gentle breeze of this gorgeous sunny day. This would be their last long journey, or so Kayzer hoped. He was done with travelling. He just wanted to lie down and settle, have a normal life again. At least Ralph was able to offer that to him.
With the directions and instructions Ralph gave him, they landed in a clearing not far off the farm near eight at night. Kayzer refused to stop for any food, mainly because of how close they were. He just wanted to get this over with so they could meet Ralph’s parents and secure their future together.
Once they landed near the farm, Ralph gave the eggs to Kayzer to carry while he kept the heavy backpack of supplies, then they got to walking. The journey wouldn’t be a long one thanks to the flat ground, which was the only saving grace of this daylong trip.
Ralph was too tired and hungry to talk much to Kayzer, and so their mile long trudge was rather uneventful, but as soon as they were in a hundred paces from the house, Ralph mother, Mae, came out of the house running towards them in her house slippers with her worn cotton dress flitting in the wind.
"Ralphie! I was so worried about you while you were gone!" Mae exclaimed, holding her little boy tightly. It was a moment before she noticed Kayzer, because she was far too consumed in hugging her son after the exceptionally long separation period she had endured. After she had all but squeezed the life out of Ralph, and Ralph done the same to her, she turned her attention to Kayzer.
"Ralphie, who is this that you've brought? And why is he carryin' around blue rocks?" Mae asked, giving Kayzer a once over before turning her gaze back to her son.
"This is Kayzer, mom. He's the guy I was taking to the mountains, the guy that was hurt by the carnival. Thing of it is, when we were going to the mountains, I was just too sad to part with him. We kinda developed something special together when we were going," Ralph explained, trying not to spring too much on his mother at once.
"Something special?" She asked. "You mean you like this guy? Like, like him, Ralphie? A bit sudden, don't you think?" Mae asked, skeptic about this. Still, she wasn’t yelling, nor was she glaring daggers at Kayzer like Ralph had expected, which meant that things were going well so far.
"Yeah. I do like like him, and in the course of our trip together we ended up getting tangled up together, and we had something special happen. See, those ain't rocks he's carrying. They're eggs," Ralph explained as delicately as possible.
"Ralph! Don't be stupid! Humans don't have eggs!" Mae replied immediately, offended her son would tell such a total lie.
Kayzer wasn't sure if he should say anything or not. He just looked to Ralph for some sort of sign to go ahead and tell his mother the truth, or if they were just going to make up some story about how they found the eggs.
"Um, Kay, it might be best for you to explain. Just be honest," Ralph said. It was easier for Kayzer to explain seeing as it was his body, so Ralph was leaving this to him.
"Okay. Well, ma'am, I'm not actually a human. I'm a dragon. We have the capability of changing to a human form, it's why I'm like this now. These eggs are ours. I didn't think it was possible for a human and a dragon to produce eggs but it seems I have been proven wrong. To my clan, these eggs are an abomination. They will destroy them if I go to them. We want to protect them and give them a good future. You are a mother, I'm sure you understand," Kayzer spoke softly, trying to be blunt and straight to the point. These eggs were not safe in the dragon world, but they could be safe in the human world until they were able to fend for themselves in the wild.
"A dragon? You're a dragon! There's no way in hell--" Mae began, overwhelmed by what she was hearing here. Her son had mated with a dragon? There was no way that could have happened, much less the man before her really be a dragon! She would much rather go on believing that her son had found a friend who just liked to carry around rocks than actually accept the story that was being given to her.
"Ma, he really is . . . I'm sure you've heard talk around town about the dragon escaping from old Barnabus, and it's true. I helped him, because they beat him and treated him awful. Then we got a little frisky on our way to his tribe, had the eggs, and his mom and dad tried to crush them," Ralph jumped in. "I'm sorry for lying and saying I was helping a person escape, but I didn't think you would approve," he explained.
Mae went quiet at that for a while and considered what she was being told. "And your family would really try to kill your children?" She asked Kayzer solemnly.
Kayzer was quiet for most of the conversation, but he nodded when Mae asked to question. He could see the look of disgust and hatred in his father's eyes. The dragon would have destroyed the eggs right in front of them if Kayzer hadn't ran off when he did.
"Yes, my father demanded that the eggs were to be handed over to him and destroyed, so I took them and left as fast as I could. I don't want to lose my hatchlings. They’re all I have now. The carnival stripped me of everything, and my entire tribe has abandoned me because I mated with Ralph.” Ralph blushed a little bit at Kayzer so brazenly mentioning that they had had sex together, but at least their story was straight and hopefully his mother would take pity on them both of what had happened with Kayzer’s tribe.
"As stupid as I think you boys are for having kids just right as soon as you met, I'm not going to stand by and let something terrible like that happen," Mae said. She had empathy being a mother herself, so she wanted to protect Kayzer here. "You and your children will be safe under my roof."
“Thank you so much ma!” Ralph said, taking his mother into a big hug.
“You’re welcome . . . But you two had better pull your own weight! Don’t think I’m giving out handouts due to your la
ck of judgement and common sense!” she said. “I mean, I always wanted to be a grandmother, but this is ridiculous! You’re springing this on me out of nowhere!”
“I’m sorry ma! I didn’t mean to!” Ralph said, excusing himself rather lamely, but he was just glad that his mother accepted them. He hadn’t expected things to be so easy, but then again, seeing as his children were almost killed by the dragons, he could see why his mother was quick to jump in to the rescue for them.
“No problem! I will pull my weight, I swear!” Kayzer said, giving his new mother in law a hug. “Thank you for letting me keep my family!”
“Everyone deserves to have their children be safe,” Mae said softly, returning the hugs of both of the boys and smiling. She was just glad everyone was home. She could tell the boys had been through a lot, and though she wasn’t necessarily in favor of their decisions, she was glad they were home safe and sound . . . Even if it did mean the headcount in her home was going to be three more than she was used to. The thought of having a big, happy family mitigated her worries.
Corporate Confusion
Chapter 1
Miles
“You clean up pretty good,” I said to my reflection.
I looked at myself in the mirror and felt confident. My grey slacks, button down, and tie looked midlevel-corporate appropriate and made my lean frame look a bit broader. My belt and shoes were new. My hair was that nice, gel-managed bedhead that always attracted women’s fingers. I grabbed my keys and a health bar on my way out the door.
“You’ve been good to me, Charlotte, but as soon as I get a raise I think it will be time for us to part ways,” I said.
I groaned at the fifteen-year-old Buick I was driving. With this job I would hopefully be able to get a new car and move to a better apartment. I had finally left behind the life of waiting tables and could do something with my journalism degree. Well, eventually.
Roommates Page 17
