Dragon's Mate [Pigeon & meluvcookies]

[meluvcookies]

The redhead was trembling by the time Aruno started to search for a place to land, but he was still a little disappointed that the flight was ending already. He cheered up though, when he remembered they were going to continue after he got warmer clothes. Then he could properly enjoy the ride without feeling cold.

 

When they'd landed, Iri brought his legs on one side of the dragon and started sliding off. As soon as his feet touched the groud, the redhead fell on his ass and hissed. The coldness combined with the unfamiliar pose on the dragon's back had made his legs numb and stiff. He didn't let it bother him for long and struggled to his feet. Walking felt a little weird but he wasn't in danger to lose his balance, so it was okay. "The village is that way, right?"

[Kotorichan]

Aruno turned back to his human form and grabbed himself some clothes from one of his bags. "Yes... Would you like me to go with you?" He himself and searched through one of his bags until he found a huge pouch of gold, it was almost as big as Iri's body. He pulled out two heapig handfuls of gold. "Will this be enough to get what you need?"

[meluvcookies]

Iri nodded when the dragon asked if he should come to the village too. He didn't want to be separated from the only person he knew in this unfamiliar place where he could get lost easily.

 

Aruno dug around his luggage for a while, and when Iri saw the amount of gold in the other's hands, he stared in astonishment for a few seconds. He'd never seen so much gold in his entire life! No, make that 'he'd never seen any gold', as the village had been a rather poor place and they mostly paid each other with things or labour. They had only relied on copper or, at most, silver coins with the occasional traveling merchant or the rare trips to a bigger town, so he couldn't even begin to imagine all the things he could get with that. "Oh, umm... Uhh... I really think we shouldn't take that much into town..." Now he definitely wanted Aruno to come with him. He gulped at the mere thought of a pickpocket stealing all that money. "I'm pretty sure I could get a nice wooden chest absolutely stuffed with decent quality clothes for just one of those..."

[Kotorichan]

"Just one? You humans are very cheap... My sister's new mate gave me all this as just a gift of good spirit..." He sighed and put all but five pieces of gold back in the bag. He put three pieces in his own pockets and handed the other two to the human. "Here... Make sure you get everything you could need, my home I'd very cold and the only human settlement nearby is very tiny..."

[meluvcookies]

"...Okay." Iri shifted nervously. He was practically holding a fortune in his hands. Should he put the coins in his backpack? But he could easily forget it if he had to put it down. Maybe in his pockets? They'd be the first place to be searched by thieves. He couldn't very well carry them in his hands either; what if he tripped and lost his hold of them? The redhead turned to look at Aruno with wide eyes. "C-could you hold on to them instead? I would really feel a lot better if you did..."

[Kotorichan]

Aru sighed and took one of the coins back. "At least carry one... If it gets lost then it really isn't a big deal" he didn't wait for the human to protest before walking in the direction of the town. He didn't go into human settlements very often and highly disliked it. The dragon just wanted to get he whole thing over with as soon as possible.

[meluvcookies]

The dragon seemed a little impatient so Iri, with obvious reluctance, slipped the coin into his pocket and started following a few steps behind Aruno. Had he annoyed the dragon by insisting on something the other thought of as insignificant? Maybe the stories the redhead had heard about dragons hoarding gold and valuables had been only half true, at least in regards to this one. Aruno did seem to have a lot of gold, and he'd called it 'a gift of good spirit' like it was nothing, but instead of guarding every piece of it jealously, he was ready to practically throw it around for the sake of a human he'd just met. Maybe his lair had mountains of treasure in it?

 

The redhead blinked at the thought. He would probably have to ask in order to know what he needed to buy from town. Did the dragon have things for cooking? Where should he sleep? If it was as cold in the dragon's home as it would be outside, surely Iri couldn't sleep on the bare ground; he might freeze to death... "Um, what's your nest like?" Iri hurried to the dragon's side. "Is there anything I could possibly use, or do we need to buy everything?" Maybe the other didn't even know what kind of things a human would need to live, but he had to at least ask. Even if Aruno didn't care about the expenses, Iri wanted to avoid spending any more than absolutely necessary.

[Kotorichan]

"You'll have to buy everything... I just have treasure and meat... I don't know what you need to survive..." Aru sighed and pulled his hair to cover his scar. "My cave is on top of a mountain... So it's usually very cold, but can get a bit warmer in the summer." He glanced over at the human. "I hope that's not a problem..."

[meluvcookies]

"Everything... Right." Iri nodded to himself. Then the dragon asked if the temprature would be a problem. "N-no, I wouldn't say it's a problem, as long as I have suitable clothes and a warm place to sleep..." He started making a mental shopping list. He would need at least things to cook and eat with, some preservable food and maybe herbs or spices while he was at it. Warm clothes and bedding were a must for winter, if he didn't want to freeze to death or get sick. Which brought to mind that some basic medicines might be a good idea. If he ends up staying for a long time, it might be nice to have furniture too, but that would be easy enough to make himself. He would just need to buy some tools and nails...

 

The list was pretty long by the time they could see the town, and Iri sighed thinking of how much it would cost. And if Aruno wasn't with him, the redhead would have to get a wagon to even move all that stuff around. That thought made him gasp. "Is it okay if the people here notice you're not human?"

[Kotorichan]

"It should be fine... As long as I don't cause any trouble" Aruno sighed and shrugged. "If anyone gets upset then I can just leave" he stopped once they got to the edge of town and turned to Iri. "Well, go ahead and lead the way... I don't know where you plan on going so I'll just follow you." He glanced around the village nervously, he was a lot more afraid than he wanted to admit.

[meluvcookies]

Iriaur had to chuckle. "I've never been here either, you know." He took the lead either way. "Maybe they'll have signs with pictures above the shop doors..."

 

As it turned out, they did. And the town had a decent market place too. "Maybe we should buy something to carry all the things with first? There's going to be quite a lot. What would be easiest for you to carry when you... uh... you know, leave?" The dragonborn looked around to make sure no one had catched the admittedly weird ending to his question. He'd been about to say 'fly' when he remembered, just in time, that they were in a town and not everyone would necessarily be friendly towards a dragon. Seeing no was was paying attention to them, he turned to look at Aruno.

[Kotorichan]

"hm... Any kind of bag is fine, I can tie it to everything else..." Aru frowned slightly as he realized how careful Iri seemed to be. He walked a little closer to the human. "do you think it's dangerous to be here?" he asked quietly, his eye darting around their surroundings as he prepared for someone to attack them at any moment. He didn't trust these people... The last time he had been so close to this many humans was when he lost his eye.

[meluvcookies]

"No, no, it's okay. Just thought it's better to err on the side of caution." Iri lowered his voice a little before continuing. "We don't know how these people would react to a dragon, so I think it's best if we don't advertise that you happen to be one." The redhead smiled reassuringly and returned his voice to normal. "Let's buy a couple sacks, then we can go about getting everything else and leave, okay?"

[Kotorichan]

Aru nodded slowly, still looking around at the humans with an air of distrust. "where would we go to find those?" he asked quietly, gripping his hands together for comfort. He just wanted to smash through the town and grab everything before escaping, pretending to be human was so nerve wracking.

[meluvcookies]

"I think that place might have some, and I bet there are pots and pans there too." He pointed to a small shop that looked like a general store. They'd be able to get many things from there, but clothes and food would have to be bought somewhere else. The latter could be easily found from the market place and should probably be left last anyway. He hadn't seen a sign indicating tailor yet, but he figured he could ask someone for directions. Iri smiled at Aru and beckoned his companion to follow him into the general store.

[Kotorichan]

Aru glanced back and forth nervously. He lightly gripped the edge of Iri's sleeve, still feeling horrible nervous. "Are you sure this is the right place to go?" he hissed. The idea of being inside one of these tiny buildings was terrifying... He shuddered as they walked closer to the store, his gaze darting around even more quickly as he prepared for something horrible...

[meluvcookies]

When his sleeve was grabbed, Iri smiled at the dragon assuringly. "Yes. And it's okay, nothing's gonna happen! I'll take care of everything, okay?" He took Aru's hand in his, and when the store owner looked at them weirdly as they stepped in, Iri just told him his friend was afraid of closed spaces. Then he asked for a few big sacks and started listing off the things he needed, and the shopkeeper showed him the things and put the ones Iri chose into the bags.

 

"I think that's all." Iri smiled at the owner, who was looking sat the two of them with suspicion. "Why do you need so many things? And can you even pay for all of it?" The redhead chuckled before handing out a gold piece and answering. "I'm moving out of my parent's house." The other man seemed to believe the explanation but did a double take when he noticed the coin in his hand was gold. Now he was more distrusting than before and watched them warily while biting the coin to ascertain if it was real.

[Kotorichan]

The coin was real gold, but Aru was starting to worry that it wouldn't be enough to pay for all the things that Iri had picked out. He leaned in closer to the human. "is that enough to pay for everything?" he whispered. "He just bit it... what does that mean?" He still thought that these humans would attack at any moment, or at the very least this structure would collapse on both of them...

[meluvcookies]

Iri couldn't help but smile at the dragon's worries and whispered back. "Believe me, it's more than enough. He'll give us some silver and copper back because a gold coin is too much for this. You'll see." He watched the man nod to himself and go to a box where he must keep the shop's money. Then the redhead explained the reason for the bite to Aruno. "That was to make sure it was real gold. We don't exactly look like rich people, you know..."

 

Then the shopkeeper came back and gave Iri two silver and a handful of copper coins. The dragonborn gave a frown at the amount, thinking things were either awfully expensive in town or they'd just been ripped off, but didn't comment on it. He was aware Aruno wanted to leave already, and fighting over a sum like this didn't seem like a good enough reason when the dragon had so much more anyway. So he turned to look at the store owner and thanked him. "Oh, by the way, would you happen to know where I could get some winter clothes?"

 

They were given directions to a tailor's on the other side of the market place and Iri thanked the man again before picking up one empty and one full bag. "Could you carry that one, Aruno?" He nodded towards the other full sack with his head.

[Kotorichan]

Aruno easily picked up the sack and put it over his shoulder. "Um, so you need to get the other things right? " it clearly took no effort to hold the heavy bag. "It won't take long I hope..." He sighed and looked down at the ground. "I don't know how much longer I can manage staying with all these humans" he murmured, too quiet for anyone but Iri to hear him. The stress was terrible, he felt like anyone could notice him and just attack.

[meluvcookies]

Iri looked at Aruno walking beside him. The dragon really looked uncomfortable, so the redhead made a suggestion. "It shouldn't take all that long but... If you want, you could go back and wait for me back where we left your things." He stopped to adjust his grip on the heavy bag. "Though you'd have to take both of these sacks. I'm struggling with just one; there's no way I could carry both food and clothes on top of this." The dragonborn sighed. He didn't want to be left alone, but Aruno seemed to be so on edge, it might be better for him to go back first.

[Kotorichan]

Aruno considered the offer for a moment before shaking his head "no... I might get caught on the way out" he sighed. "I'll be fine as long as we aren't here for too long... It's just that being around this many humans brings back memories..." he lightly touched the scar on his face and grimaced, trying not to think about it too much. "let's just keep going, I'll be able to help you carry things anyway"

[meluvcookies]

The thought that Aruno seemed to trust him but not other people was heartwarming. "I appreciate the help... and the company." The redhead decided to cheer the dragon up with a little joke. "As thanks, I'll protect you from the big bad humans." He winked and grinned playfully.

 

Iri would probably have trouble defending himself if push came to shove, but it was unlikely anyone would be able to tell Aruno was a dragon anyway. No one knew the creatures could change shape after all. Those paying attention most likely thought the both of them were dragonborn because of their bright eyes. Even most thugs would probably leave them be in fear of retaliation from their possible dragon mates. Or at least Iri hoped so.

 

"Let's get to it then!" Iriaur started walking again.

[Kotorichan]

Aruno's face heated up in embarrassment at Iri's words. He softly grumbled an insult in an ancient language, but seemed to relax slightly due to the human's additude. He turned his gaze to their surroundings again, this time with curiosity. The dragon had never had chance to see human settlements like this, he had only been so close to one when he was attacking one. "Do people live in all the buildings?" He asked softly, leaning closer to Iri. "There are so many..."

[meluvcookies]

Iri smiled, noticing Aruno wasn't as nervous anymore, and answered. "Well, most of the places along this street are shops, so no one probably lives there. Unless it has a second floor like that one." He nodded towards a higher building. "Then the owner usually lives above the shop." He blew some hair out of his face. "But to answer your question; people live in most of the buildings." The redhead was happy to answer the other's questions and decided to tell him a little more. "And, I don't know how it is with your kind, but humans tend to live together with their families, at least until they get married, and sometimes even after that if there's enough room in the house."

 

By the time Iri was done with the explanation of human living arrangements, they were already near the market place. It was full of different smells and colors and, most importantly, a lot of people were there to buy, sell or just browse through the merchandise, so the dragonborn hesitated. Would the dragon be all right if they went right through or should they go around? Aruno had said he didn't want to be there for long and it would be faster to go straight through, but it was the amount of humans making him nervous...

 

It was better to just ask straight out, so Iri turned to look at Aru. "Do you want to go around this place?" Then he remembered he needed to buy food from there anyway. "Oh, but I have to come through here to buy something later. Will you be okay?"