Dragon's Mate [Pigeon & meluvcookies]

[Kotorichan]

"I suppose that's true... But there are humans that live near my sister who are creating wings for humans, they're made out of cloth and when they jump from high places they can glide smoothly yo the ground" Aruno spoke with a tone of fascination. "You humans are so remarkable... Your lives are so short and you are always making new things, it's very different than most of us dragons... We haven't changed much for centuries" he laughed softly.

[meluvcookies]

"Wings out of cloth..." Iri repeated with wonder in his voice. Then Aruno made the comment about the shortness of human life compared to dragons. "Say, I've been thinking about this before but, would you dragons even seriously consider taking a dragonborn as a nesting partner?" They were by the willows now and he parted the hanging branches to let the dragon step through first. "I mean a real dragon would be around longer and you could even have offspring if you wanted, but dragonborn are technically human so we can't do any of that, right?"

[Kotorichan]

Aruno stepped through the willows with a soft sigh."Well... The problem is that different species of dragons live for different lengths of time, and we can't breed with different species easily... That's why we have breeding partners and nesting partners. A nesting partner is someone that we love and devote our lives to until one of us dies, usually that one partner lives a lot longer than the other or they simply can't breed... So taking a human as a partner is not much different" He turned to Iri with a smile. "I guess it's just another things that's different than humans, isn't it?"

[meluvcookies]

"Yes. The parents usually choose who we marry, and we're supposed to only have children with that person. Any other offspring are bastards." Then Iriaur figured the dragon might not be familiar with the word. "That means the legitimate children will usually inherit everything, including land and titles, when their parents pass away. Though often the bastards aren't even accepted into the family in the first place..." Now that he was speaking about this aloud, Iri found himself thinking of his own race as cruel. Humans rarely married for love, and they punished innocent children of their parents' infidelity.

 

For the first time in his life Iriaur didn't want to be a human, and it made him pause at the waterline and stare at his reflection in deep thought. He'd never thought twice about any of this before hearing how dragon society worked, and suddenly he was glad to be a dragonborn. At least he could some day choose a nesting partner out of love, and he vowed to himself then and there to cherish any possible offspring of that partner, even though they wouldn't be his flesh and blood.

[Kotorichan]

"You shouldn't speak so poorly of your people... All cultures have flaws, it's just up the individual to decide what they are willing to sacrifice..." Aru crouched down by the water and looked down at his reflection. "There are dragons that choose to live as humans... I can't say that I understand them though..." He lightly touched his scar and frowned.

[meluvcookies]

Iriaur turned to look at Aruno, forgetting his darker thoughts in favor of surprise at the other's revelation. "Really? I wonder why they'd do that. It's not like humans are all that great..." The redhead noticed the dragon touching his scar and was once again filled with curiosity. He bit his lip in an effort to prevent himself from asking about it, but after a few seconds his resolve was broken. "Um... It's fine if you don't want to answer, but..." He fidgeted nervously. "About that scar... How did you get it?"

[Kotorichan]

Aru looked up in surprise, he hadn't even realized he was touching his scar. "oh... I don't mind answering... It's uh... It's a long story, but I got it from a group of humans..." He smiled slightly and stood up. "It was a long time ago, but I still get a bit uneasy around your kind... I hope you take offense to that, I'll try not to be too jumpy" he laughed softly and brushed his hair over his scar.

[meluvcookies]

Well, that just proved his point about humans not being all too great. He was actually starting to think of himself as a dragonborn, as a separate species from humans. Iri gave Aruno a smile. "That's okay." When the dragon covered the scar, he instinctively reached out to brush the hair aside and leaned in to kiss it better, like he'd done to many of the village children when they'd hurt themselves while playing.

[Kotorichan]

The dragon's skin was much colder than a human's, it was about the same tempature as the cool water in the pond. Aru jerked away as he saw Iri's face moving closer. "W-what are you doing? Have you confused me with someone else?" He snapped, more confused than angry. He had never heard of a kiss being anything besides a sign of affection, and he definitely didn't feel that close to the human yet. He quickly backed away. "I need to rest... You may want to do the same since it might be hard to sleep on my back" he pushed his hair in front of his scar again and hurried towards the cave.

[meluvcookies]

Iri flinched as the dragon snapped at him. Then he blushed. Had the other thought... But he hadn't meant it like that! This was a misunderstanding, he had to fix it. Right now. So, still red faced, he followed Aruno to the cave. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean... It's just that... The children in the village..." Completely flustered and not giving the other a chance to interrupt, Iri shook his head and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "No, I didn't mean to treat you like child! But just..." His blush darkened further and he faced the ground while muttering under his breath. "Sorry. I was going to kiss it better."

[Kotorichan]

Aru sighed and stopped when he found a large part of the cave, it would be a bit cramped but not too bad... He looked over his shoulder at the blushing human who he had been ignoring. "It's fine, I'm sure you're very tired and confused... I wouldn't expect you to be thinking straight after what you must have been through today" Without another word he slipped his cloak off and changed into his full dragon form.

[meluvcookies]

Iriaur peeked at the now very big dragon from under his bangs. "I really am sorry. I promise to be more careful from now on..." Then he shuffled out of the cave in order to let Aruno rest and went to sit on a rock by the pond with a sigh.

 

He really hadn't meant to kiss the dragon, but since he'd been doing that for years whenever he saw a kid from the village crying from a scrape or bruise. It's not like it magically healed the injuries, but it was effective in making the children forget about them. Which had been what Iri had instinctively wanted to accomplish with Aruno. The scar looked old enough not to be painful anymore, but the dragon seemed to still be bothered by it...

 

Iri shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. It was none of his business. Aruno had been nice enough to offer him a place to go, so if he wanted him to leave it be, that's what the redhead would do. Nodding his head resolutely, he rose from his perch and quietly headed back to the cave. If they'd leave as soon as Aruno woke, it might be good for Iri to rest for a while as well. The redhead found a relatively flat place next to the cave wall, curled up in his cape and lay down using his backpack as a pillow. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.

[Kotorichan]

Aru didn't fall asleep until he saw Iri sleeping. He really wasn't sure how to interact with the human, but he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The dragon let out a soft sigh before falling asleep. He stayed asleep for a few hours, exhausted form all his flying. When he finally woke up he immediately sat up and looked around for Iri.

[meluvcookies]

The redhead had woken up a while ago and, seeing he dragon was still resting, he'd gone outside. He'd eaten some of the food in his backpack and then went to clean his hands in the pond. Due to the small size of the pool, the water was nice and warm so he'd gone for a swim. Now he was sunbathing on a flat rock, sitting while leaning on his hands, wearing only his still damp pants, with his eyes closed and face tilted towards the sun. It was surprisingly nice to just sit there and relax for a while.

[Kotorichan]

Aru turned back to his human form and grabbed his cloak. He threw the garment around his shoulders and hurried outside, afraid that Iri had left or gotten hurt. He relaxed slightly at the sight of the human laying next to the pond and walked over to him. "Hello... Did you rest well?" He asked slowly, trying to be as polite as possible.

[meluvcookies]

Iriaur opened his eyes and smiled at the dragon. "As well as possible on a stone floor, I guess." He chuckled. "How about you?" Then he remembered his half naked appearance and reached for the rest of his clothes and put them on. Noticing his backpack next to the rock the redhead wondered if Aruno was hungry. "Would you like to eat?" Then remembering the other was a dragon and might not be satisfied by some bread and cheese, he continued. "There's not much of it, though..."

[Kotorichan]

"Oh, you needn't worry about feeding me" Aru said with a sift smile. "I'll go hunt for my meal, please make sure that all your things are gathered by the time I return." He bowed his head slightly before walking off. When he was just a few feet away he turned into his dragon form and took off into the sky. He went to the ocean and began to catch fish, he ate each one raw as soon as it was in his mouth

[meluvcookies]

He watched Aruno change shape and fly off. With a small sigh, the redhead started organizing the things he had with him, which only took a moment to accomplish. Not having anything else to do, Iri sat back down to wait.

[Kotorichan]

Aruno finished his meal and put all his baggage on his back before flying back to Iri. He landed next to the pond and lowered himself to the ground. "Climb on" he growled softly, looking over at the human. "And make sure you hold on tightly... I'm not used to having a rider"

[meluvcookies]

Iri rose to his feet and took his backpack as he saw Aruno flying closer. After being told to get on, he walked closer and searched for a good place to sit. In the end he chose to climb in front of the dragon's baggage, as that would probably help him to stay on the creature. Securing himself the best he could, Iriaur nodded to himself. "Okay, I'm ready now."

[Kotorichan]

Aruno beat his wings a couple times before leaping into the air. Having the human on his back made almost no difference to him, the weight of his luggage was far greater than Iri's body. "We are about a day's journey from my home... I will be stopping at a human village on the way so you can get warmer clothes" he said to Iri.

[meluvcookies]

The initial takeoff seriously tried Iri's balance, but he managed to stay on Aruno's back by squeezing hard with his legs and holding onto the straps binding the luggage. After they had gained a little altitude and started to fly horizontally, it got a little easier, as long as the redhead kept himself low on the dragon.

 

Iriaur had originally thought flying might be somewhat scary, at least in the beginning, but surprisingly he felt... at home soaring through the air. It was amazing, really. Even though he could slip and fall to his death any second, even though he couldn't properly keep his eyes open because of the wind, the redhead couldn't help letting out a delighted laugh at the feeling.

[Kotorichan]

Aruno bared his sharp teeth in a smile at the sound of Iri's laugh. "Are you enjoying yourself dragon born?" He roared over the wind as he sped up. Without any warning he closed his wings and dropped like a rock, but after just a few seconds he caught himself on a better air current so that he wouldn't have to work so hard to move.

[meluvcookies]

Iriaur yelped and held on tighter at the sudden drop, but let out another laugh when the dragon righted himself. "Yes! So fast, so high, so free!" He shouted his answer, though he was unsure if Aruno would even catch the words or if the wind would rob them right from his lips.

 

The dragonborn was almost delirious with happiness for a time, but at some point he started to feel the coldness of the wind and shivered a little. He didn't want to stop flying yet though, so he said nothing and distracted himself by trying to watch the scenery despite the wind making his eyes teary.

[Kotorichan]

After just a couple more minutes Aruno spotted a human village up ahead. He slowed down and began to land. He had to circle around the tops of the trees for few minutes until he found a space large enough to land. His feet touched the ground gracefully and he lowered himself to let Iri off.