He nodded and disappeared for ten minutes.
She reset all of the keepsakes on the table behind her couch. After that, she went to the snack dispenser and got a tray with a teapot and a teacup without handles. The tea wasn’t the same kind as that night, but it was a close approximation.
She carried the tray into her bedroom just as Khyran turned away from the extrusion module, and he tied his robe.
“Where are your wings?”
He smiled. “I am holding them in.”
She waited until he stepped away from the closet and then walked around him. “Where are you holding them in, exactly?”
He chuckled and turned to her. “None of your business.”
Habel smiled and knelt next to her bed platform. She tucked the robe under her knees and sat with her hands folded in her lap, her hair rippling down her back. He walked up to the edge of the tray and knelt facing her. She smiled and said, “I thought this would play out with less of an urge to giggle.”
“Perhaps pretend that it is that first night all over again, and open your eyes when necessary, closing them when you feel like it.”
She blinked slowly, looked at his features, and then she closed her eyes and poured the cup of tea. Habel held the cup to him, and he wrapped his hands around hers. She looked into his eyes, and the urge to giggle faded. He easily drank the scalding hot tea, which raised other questions, but when he released her hands, she set down the cup and put her fingers on the tie. He put his fingers over hers, the tie opened, and the fabric slipped from her shoulders.
With the bright light of the day shining on her skin, he pulled her into his arms, his own robe fell away with her help, and they relived her first night with full knowledge of both parties aware of the other.
This time, Habel saw the light streaming out of her skin in a burst, and the feelings running through her eclipsed any embarrassment that she had felt. Khyran didn’t seem upset by her reaction to his focused attention. In fact, he set her off a few more times.
Lying with him as the evening light faded, she put her hand over his around her waist. He pulled her closer, and she felt like he was trying to fuse them together.
“I can’t believe that I waited this long to say something.” He sighed. “It is a good thing that we have centuries to continue this.”
She chuckled. “Who says I want to do it again?”
He leaned in and licked the point of her ear. “I will just have to work on my persuasive skills.”
She shivered. “Uh-huh. I look forward to your efforts. Do you think Elder Monathian will have a comment on it?”
He smiled. “That young pup will have to discuss it with me first. By the way, have you managed to make your own orb?”
She paused. “You know about that?”
“Of course. So, did you?”
She leaned back against him. “Sort of. We had to craft a rig of five different orbs before they stopped exploding, so we went to nine for safety. My brain patterns, knowledge, and energy patterns have all been recorded for future generations to examine. I even had to write out the complete history of Habel Trollblood. As I learn, Monathian makes me add chapters.”
He whistled. “Nine. Even dragons only take three.”
“Whatever I am, I am complicated, but the world made me for a reason and shaped me for a purpose. I help those I can and comfort those I can’t. It’s a good way to spend a long life.”
“What would you do if you weren’t here?”
“If I was an elf and not the troll I was born to be, you mean?” She chuckled.
“I think you were born to be just as you are. Just as I was. We all take our shape in time.”
Habel laughed. “This is a serious conversation for a moment like this. Isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I have never wanted to stay wrapped around a woman for decades before.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to take your train?”
He chuckled. “The sirens are staying until tomorrow in the guest quarters down below.”
She smiled. “That is one of the better initiatives. Guest quarters so that they can stay overnight, and the occasional shenanigan occurs with the single members of the parties.” She chuckled.
“Is that how you would classify this?”
She inhaled slowly and exhaled on a “No. This is different. This I feel in my soul, which is a very un-elflike thing.”
“Don’t worry about it. You are as you are meant to be. I am not complaining.” He had a smile in his voice. “The first time I saw you on the platform, I was shocked. The elves, they are like carved marble. They are beautiful and beautiful together, but they do not mix with others. You? You jump in, take hands, and take action. That is not a very elf-like behaviour. It was amazing to see. You shine so brightly, even when surrounded by those whose illumination dazzles.”
“I thought you were just impressed because I don’t get out of the dragons’ way.”
“Or anything else’s way. That is definitely part of your charm.” He licked the tip of her ear again.
She squirmed. “Stop doing that.”
He nuzzled her neck. “Why? I finally have you where I have been imagining you for decades.”
She wove her fingers through his. “Enjoy the moment. That is all we really have anyway. Well, we have a lot of moments available to us. Do you have any idea why you became a dragon?”
He chuckled. “I wasn’t born a dragon. I was born human just like you were. Then, I became something else, and then, I became a dragon. It was not a fast process.”
She was stunned. “You transitioned again?”
“All of the dragons did. We were all something else before we became dragons. We aged into it.”
She squirmed in his arms to face him and propped her head up on her fist. “You were all elves.”
He nodded. “The memories are blurred, but yes, we were. When elves get old enough and have an urge to wander, they leave. If they can make it on their own long enough, the change begins. When the change starts, we find them, take them in, and help them through it.”
“What about the women? The dragons I have seen have all been men.”
He stroked her hair and sighed. “We don’t know. We only find the males because their transformation resonates. The females who go out simply disappear, or they become medics and educators in other communities.”
She made a face. “That sucks.”
He chuckled. “The pearl sheen in our skin darkens to carbon, we gain an affinity for the tunnels and the stone underground. New Pangea is our domain, and the stones of the ancient continents are our playground. I would love to take you for a tour of the tunnels and introduce you to races you have never seen.”
Habel sighed. “You would be surprised at what kind of races came to trade at the troll settlement.”
He kissed her forehead. “I would be interested but not surprised. I expect exceptional things from you now. Ever since that day that you flew over the heads of the assembled delegates, I stopped being shocked and decided just to enjoy the moments of your attention that I could gather.”
“You have my full attention now.” She grinned, stroking his neck and shoulder with her hand.
“But I will have to take the sirens back to their coastline tomorrow. It means that I don’t know when I will be back.”