Disclaimer:
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. This work contains homosexual acts that take place between an adult and a minor. The author does not condone sexual activity with minors. If this is illegal in your area by local, county, province, or national law, please stop reading now and go elsewhere.
Dragon's Tears
Chapter 2
I awoke to the feeling of someone sitting on the couch. My eyes snapped open, my body tense, ready to attack at a moments notice. That moment never came. Sitting in front of me was a gorgeous boy with dark blond hair, green eyes, small lips that could almost be called "pouty," and an expression that read fear. I relaxed as much as I could. The fact that I had a Jagi in my apartment was something that I had been taught to be fearful of, to run if one had ever found me. It wasn't easy trying to break that early brutal training, but it could be done, and was being done. I knew my grandfather would kill me if he ever found out, and he just might, pending on what I decided to do. Which, by the way, I still didn't know.
Aden wore my long orange t-shirt and black athletic shorts. I have to admit, seeing him in my clothes spawned a stirring in my loins. I had always been attracted to boys around his age, but never thought much about it; to be totally honest, I pretty much ignored it. I don't know why really, as the laws and rules in the dragon clans are different from those of the human society. For one thing, gays aren't persecuted. We're celebrated. I know; it's kind of weird if you think about it, but it's something about the celebration of the sacred feminine. It goes back to some of the ancient religions. Also, there aren't laws regarding age in our society.
Dragons view love as something special, something that cannot be governed. The only thing is, very few dragons ever find their true love. We have had cases of dragons mingling with humans and falling in love with them, and while this is frowned upon, it's not forbidden. As I already told you, we're sterile when we're human. So I don't know why I never acted on my attraction, maybe it was personal morals. But looking at Aden now, something was stirring inside of me. And it wasn't just my loins.
There have been rumors of a type of magic called "Imprinting," but no one has ever found any truth in this. The basic of imprinting is just as it sounds. That every dragon has a mate somewhere in the world and when you meet that person, something inside of you clicks and you know. I've always been a bit skeptical of the theories of imprinting, but looking at Aden now, I wasn't so sure. Maybe because I wanted to believe in free will, that we had the ability to choose who we would be with; and the thought that some higher force chose that for you, well, that kind of unnerved me a bit. But after meeting Aden, something told me that I'd found my mate. Of course, as a non-believer in that magic, it all depended on what he felt, if he even felt anything at all.
I wished some of the lore were true, that there were dragons that had special abilities beyond what the goddesses gave us. According to legend, there were some that could foretell the future without looking to the stars and others could hear thoughts. Even some abilities were greater than that: the ability to control water and fire, control temperatures, the atmosphere (weather), and several other things. I would have given anything at that moment to be able to hear thoughts so I could know what Aden was thinking. I didn't have to wait long to find out.
"I know you just let me eat at Mc Donald's, but do you have any food?" Aden asked shyly.
I wasn't surprised by this question. As dragons, we have to eat at least 4,000 calories a day or we risk not being able to transform. I knew that the boy hadn't eaten well for at least a couple days, possibly more and needed to rejuvenate. "What would you like to eat?"
"I don't know. What do you have?"
It was such a typical boy question, I couldn't suppress my laugh. "Well, I've got a lot of stuff. Why don't you come with me to the kitchen and we'll take a gander at what's in there. If nothing catches your fancy we can always order pizza."
"PIZZA! I haven't had pizza in like forever. Can we get pizza please?"
"Well, I guess that's decided. What kind of pizza do you like?"
"Um, well, anything's good except for Supreme, or anything with anchovies. They're gross." Aden wrinkled up his nose at the mention of the small fish.
I laughed. "Alright. No supreme or anchovies. Let's see. I usually get sausage, mushroom, and extra cheese. Does that sound ok, or would you like something different?"
"No, that sounds great! Mmm. I can taste it already." He rubbed his belly at the thought of the food.
"Well ok. I'll go and order it. If you want, you can see what's on TV." He beamed at my suggestion and grabbed the remote control. I walked into the kitchen and called the closest pizza parlor and placed an order for 5 extra large pizzas with our decided toppings. I was given the price and told that the delivery man would be here in 45 minutes to an hour. After I hung up the phone, I walked to the doorway leading into the TV area and watched Aden. He was watching some sitcom on a kid's network and laughing. He looked so carefree. I fought the urge to go and join him. I had something I needed to do first.
I walked into my bedroom and pulled out my cell phone, looked through the numbers and called my cousin Lin. Her birth name is actually Guilinn of Tine, or Guilinn Tine, but she'll beat anyone into the ground if they call her that in this realm. She picked up on the second ring. "Hey Lin, got a favor to ask you."
"Alright little cousin, what's going on?" I could hear something in her voice, but couldn't place it.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner."
"Aw, how sweet of you. Tired of eating alone?" She laughed into the phone.
"Actually no, but there's something I need your help with, and I'd rather not try and explain it over the phone." I said a bit harshly, but she got my point.
"Oh ok. What time is the food hitting the table?"
"Soon. Just get here as soon as you can please." I hung up before she could say anything else. I wasn't going to take no for an answer or let her dawdle. I was hoping that my abrupt ending of the call would spur her into getting here quicker. I threw the phone onto my dresser and walked back into the living room.
Aden was still sitting on the couch, hands behind his head, reclining. I knew he was there, but seeing him made me pause. The urge to run resurfaced even though there was something inside me telling me that he meant me no harm. I walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. Even though my eyes were pointed in the direction of the TV, I wasn't paying attention to it. After a few minutes Aden shifted and moved closer to me, leaning his head against my arm.
Without thinking, I moved him a bit, letting my arm extend around him draped across his shoulders, my hand resting on his arm. His skin was cold to the touch and my hand automatically started rubbing up and down, trying to create enough friction to warm it. He scooted closer to me, so our hips were almost touching and his head was now resting on my chest. I'm sure he could hear my heartbeat going a mile a minute, but he didn't say anything. I hugged him closer to me and rested my cheek on the top of his head. We stayed like that until the doorbell rang.
I got up and walked to the door. I opened it to the smell of pizza wafting inside the apartment. I could hear Aden's stomach growl from the other room and laughed. Evidently the pizza guy couldn't hear it because he looked at me like I was crazy. Either that or he was expecting more people to be here. It didn't matter; I pulled the money from my wallet and paid him, giving him an additional ten dollars for a tip. I was pretty sure the tip is what made him smile. I took the 5 boxes and carried them into the kitchen and sat them on the counter, pulling down 3 plates and setting them next to the boxes. You're probably wondering why I got so much pizza. Well, the answer is simple, I can eat two whole extra large pizzas to myself, and I figured Aden probably could too. The fifth was for Guilinn.
Aden burst into the kitchen, looking ravenous. He spied the boxes and licked his lips, then spotted the plates. I saw his eyes count down, then his eyebrows creased. "Are we expecting someone?"
"Yes we are. My cousin Lin is coming for dinner as well." I saw Aden stiffen when I mentioned her. It didn't surprise me honestly, but I knew I had to set him at ease. He was a Jagi in Tine territory after all. "It's ok Aden, she's nice."
"Yeah, I've heard that before."
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind, do we have to wait for her to get here before we eat?"
"I think it would be polite if we did. And we don't eat in front of the TV. We sit at the table to eat, or stand over the sink, but since she's coming, we'll be using the dining room." I was surprised at how much I sounded like a parent.
"Ok. I'm gonna go watch TV until she gets here." He left without letting me say anything else. I guess since he just took a shower, he wouldn't need to wash up. I quickly wrote a note to my cousin telling her that I was in the laundry room and put it on the door. I called to Aden and told him where I was going as well. When I was down in the basement, I switched Aden's clothes from the washer to the dryer and set it on high and extra dry. All the clothes looked clean, and his undies were white again. When the dryer started its cycle, I heard the door open. I turned to see Lin standing in the doorway. "Dia Dhuit."
"Dia Dhuit cousin. So what's going on?" She was never one to beat around the bush.
"You might want to sit down for this." I watched as she made her way over to the folding table and jumped up on it. Her brown hair bobbing as she bounced. She wasn't very tall, standing at 5'8", but she could kick anyone's ass. I told her the story about me finding Aden and that he was now in my apartment, waiting for us to come up there, if he decided to be brave and stay to meet her.
"Oh, he's up there alright, and he's pissed."
"W- What are you talking about? He's not trashing my place is he?" I stood up to run back upstairs but stopped when my cousin motioned me to sit back down.
"Brenten, there's something I need to tell you. After hearing what you've just told me, I thought it was why you called me, but then I remembered I never told you. You know those legends we heard as kids about dragons with special abilities?"
I nodded slowly. "Yes."
"Well, I have one. They're not myth like everyone thinks. I've not said anything to anyone. My parents don't even know."
"Know what?"
"It's, well it's hard to explain."
"Guilinn..." I knew she hated it when I did that, but it would get her to answer.
"I can hear thoughts Brenten of Tine."
"What do you mean you can hear thoughts?" I asked.
"Just by what I said, the legends are true. Some of us have added abilities. I found out when I was younger. I know you're gay, and I know what you prefer."
I was shell shocked at this admission. How could she have known and not tell me?
"I didn't tell you because I didn't know how you'd react, and I didn't want everyone else to know."
"So what, you think I'd just tell everyone?" It then hit me that I didn't voice my previous thought, yet she'd responded to it. Well, it was proof.
"No, I didn't think you'd tell everyone. But things have a habit of slipping. I know this, you know this. It was safer for me if no one knew."
I didn't know what to do with this information. Knowing that she knew my deepest secrets kind of scared me. I knew she didn't tell anyone, and I didn't think she ever would tell anyone, but it was still weird. There was a time that I would have freaked out learning the information that I now knew, but I've accepted things about myself. I had heard rumors about thought hearers and they ran through my head.
"There are still things I don't know about it Brenten. I've worked on trying to improve and expand on it, but without having a teacher; it's not as easy as one would think. It's more than just self discipline. It's hard to explain."
"No, I get it." I said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. I'm jealous, but I'll get over it. Do you think-" She cut me off.
"I haven't tried it before, but you have to remember that it would go both ways. So if you don't want him to hear your thoughts about him, then I wouldn't even finish that thought." She smirked at the latter part of her statement.
"Oh, ok. Lin, there's something else you should know." I started.
"You think you might be imprinting?"
I nodded. I didn't know what else to say.
"Well, it would stand to reason that if my ability exists, and it obviously does, that imprinting is real too."
"But then why don't all of us do it?"
"Who knows a chroí, maybe they just never met the person they would have imprinted with."
As much as I didn't want to admit it, it made sense. I had always thought that imprinting was something that was instantaneous, but maybe it wasn't. There was always the possibility that it really was a slower process, and no one knew. As far as I knew, no one in my clan in memory had ever imprinted. It stood to reason that someone had to have done it, or there wouldn't be the myth about it. But I couldn't help feeling like I was the first one.
"He's wondering where you are." She broke my thought.
"Yeah, we should probably get back upstairs." I led the way to the door and waited for her.
As we set out up the stairs, a warm feeling came over me. Each step I climbed brought more warmth. It felt like I was coming home after a long journey, only it wasn't the physical place. I knew this much already. It was who was waiting for me inside my home. I wondered if he could feel it too.
(End of Chapter 2)
*The Gaelic phrases used in this chapter are listed below with their definitions. I will be continuing to do this at the end of each chapter with the phrases used.
Dia Dhuit – Hello (the literal translation of this is "God to you." It is still widely used in Ireland.
a chroí - my dear
A/N: Many thanks to my editor who diligently goes over all my work and makes it legible.
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Adult Youth
Fun Stop – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/fun-stop/
Dark Paradise – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/dark-paradise
Celebrity
Harry Potter and the Parchment Snake – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/parchment-snake
Harry Potter and the After Effect – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/after-effect
Harry's Private Affairs – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/harrys-private-affairs
Declan's Private Concert – www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/declans-private-concert
Young Friends
Weekend at Brian's - www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/weekend-at-brians
Sci-fi/Fantasy
Dragon's Tears - http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/dragons-tears
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