Authors: Carmella Jones
“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 savouring 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 ancy 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 with 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 parents 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.
Qith 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.