Dragon Consultant (3 page)

"You are very brave, little red. What's your name?" Dr. Krantz asked as he knelt on the ground in front of Dane where the kit was still sitting.

"I Lumie." He made grabbing motions towards the red sucker.

"Well, Lumie, I need you to drink this medicine. Once you've swallowed all of it, you may have the lolly." Dr. Krantz poured a purple liquid out of another bottle he pulled from his bag into a small cup. Lumie downed the liquid without hesitation, although he did grimace at the taste. The sucker replaced the usual thumb in his mouth. Dane could never trust a stranger that easily, but then the innocence of youth wasn't a luxury he had ever been allowed. With Lumie happy and unhurt from the experience, the rest of the kits hurried forward in human form to take their own medicine and get their lolly too.

The transportation spell flashed twice while the kits were lining up. Dr. Krantz's assistant reappeared first, wheeling an incubator covered in protective spell runes and large enough to hold the egg Dane was still cradling. Daisy was only a few minutes behind the assistant. She started cooing at the kits the second she saw them, exclaiming over their naked state and how dirty they were.

"Baths right away, then dinner 'n bed. I have the cutest PJs for the scamps, ya know," Daisy insisted. She had 'Ron cuddled in her arms. 'Ron was fascinated by Daisy's green skin and the thick lizard's tail that poked out of the bottom of her skirt.

"Then let's get them all inside," Dane replied. Lumie had eaten the lollipop stick too and his thumb was back in his mouth, but that didn't stop him from rumbling unhappily when Nickel poked him until he got to his feet. The other red dragon was growling at Dr. Krantz as the egg was situated in the incubator. It took some doing, but eventually all the kits started heading towards the front door of Dane's house. That left Dane, the bronze dragon still lying in the grass, and Nickel, who had remained behind to watch over his dad.

Nickel really was cute in a slightly murderous way. His stare would have sent chills up Dane's spine if he hadn't already experienced much worse in his lifetime. Dane didn't want to know what Nickel had faced in his life to teach him that look either.

"I'll have to carry your dad," Dane told Nickel first so he wouldn't get upset, then Dane stooped down and got one arm underneath the bronze's shoulders and the other underneath his knees and stood back up. He wasn't nearly as heavy as he ought to have been, which was worrying for a dragon.

Daisy had been in and out of Dane's house for years, so she knew exactly where to take the kits to get them scrubbed clean. This wasn't the first family of strays Dane had helped find their way, although so far they were his most confusing. She was his main go-to whenever children were involved. Nickel closed the front door behind them and then followed closely as Dane walked up the stairs and down the right-hand hallway. They passed the bathroom where Lumie was squalling about not liking water and 'Ron was giggling loudly to a chorus of splashing. The last door in the hall was the master bedroom for the wing. It had a king-sized bed, a large sitting area, and a private bath. It would be more than enough space for the dragon family when they were spending time with their dad.

"In the bottom drawer over there," Dane told Nickel, using his chin to point to a dresser along one wall, "is a pair of sleeping pants that will fit your dad." Dane headed into the bathroom because there was no way the dragon was sleeping on Dane's sheets smelling like he did. It wasn't pleasant, to say the least.

The bronze's heavy wheezing was evening out slightly, which was a welcome sign. His breathing returning to normal was the first indication that the dragon fever was breaking. Dane laid him down on the bathmat and started the water in the tub. Nickel returned while Dane was waiting for the water to heat up.

"You're going to have to get a bath of your own too, you know," Dane told him. The water finally heated up so he plugged the drain and watched as the tub began to fill.

"After I'm sure you're not about to make dragon stew," Nickel replied without the slightest trace of humor in his voice. Dane had to hide a grin; Nickel really was the cutest little potential murderer when he sounded like that.

Dane shut the water off when the tub was only half full. With Nickel's help, he got Dad into the water.

"Your job is to make sure his head doesn't go underneath the water," Dane told Nickel sternly as he wet a washcloth and started up a lather with some sweet-smelling soap. Washing the bronze was an interesting adventure in behaving himself. It wasn't often Dane had a naked man to touch as much as he wanted, particularly one as lovely as the man in his tub. He was defenseless, however, which kept Dane's hands from straying from propriety, and Nickel was watching like a hawk. Had the dragon been awake and consenting, and had his child not been watching, this encounter might have ended more pleasurably.

Dane knew he was a dick for even thinking about touching a vulnerable man. Nickel was right to be so distrusting. Dane bowed his head and set to his task.

The bronze scales washed clean easily with just one swipe of the washcloth. The human skin took a bit more scrubbing, but it eventually came clean too. It took them both to scrub the long bronze hair that fell messily to the dragon's shoulders. When they were finally done, Nickel held out a towel as Dane pulled the drain in the tub and lifted the dragon free.

It only took a few more minutes to get the dragon dry, in pajama pants, and tucked into bed. Nickel helped the entire time. He knew how to tighten the strings on the pajamas and how to fold down the sheets on the bed. Those weren't skills normal dragons came by; there weren't beds in the wild where they lived.

The door opened before Dane could ask about it.

"There ya are!" Daisy exclaimed as she stepped into the bedroom. "I've got pants for ya. Go on and take yer bath; dinner'll be ready in twenty." She held out a pair of loose green child-size pajama bottoms for Nickel to take. He snatched them from her with a glare, turned the glare on Dane with a sharp warning in his eyes, and then stomped back to the bathroom. Dane heard the water start running a few moments later through the door Nickel hadn't bothered to close.

"That's a rascally one, right there." Daisy sighed with a shake of her head. "Copper's gone and made himself a nest with the egg, Chrome and 'Ron were testing their teeth on your banister, and Lumie's wandered off. I'll get dinner into them and get them into bed. Then I'll be back in the morning."

Dane's poor banister, although they couldn't do more damage than that teething werewolf cub had a few years back. "Thanks, Daisy," he replied fervently. Her help was invaluable whenever there were kids involved. Dane knew he couldn't do this without her.

The bronze was slumbering peacefully in the bed. His damp hair spilled over the pillow and the covers were pulled up tight to his chin. His color was better and his breathing even. Dane forced his eyes away from the dragon's pretty face and walked into the hallway. He closed the door behind himself to give Nickel some privacy when he finished in the bathroom.

There was a soft thump and weight suddenly deposited on Dane's foot. Lumie looked up at him, grinning around the thumb in his mouth. He was sitting on Dane's foot and he wrapped one arm around Dane's ankle when Dane didn't immediately dislodge him. Here was another strange kit. Lumie wasn't afraid or wary of Dane and unlike most young dragons hadn't protested the change in territory.

Dane lifted his foot experimentally and Lumie giggled and clung tightly. He didn't seem inclined to move, but Dane had a phone call to make. Dane walked down the hall, heading towards the other wing of the house with Lumie giggling happily from his position on Dane's foot the entire time. The two hallways for the two separate wings of the house met in the center where Dane had created a pleasant sitting area. There were two double couches and a deep armchair circled around a coffee table whose legs looked chewed as if a puppy had been teething on them. Dane and Lumie quickly bypassed the furniture and headed down the hallway towards his office.

Jacobson's number was written in Dane's address book. Dane only kept friends on speed dial on his phone and Jacobson most definitely wasn't a friend. It was probably too late to catch him at the office—he didn't seem the type to work any more hours than he had to—but Dane should leave a message at least.

The phone rang six times before the answering machine picked up. Dane waited while bouncing his foot up and down, causing Lumie to giggle even more.

"Jacobson," Dane said formally into the phone once the usual beep ended. "I have relocated your dragon problem. Feel free to contact the FAA and tell them regular flights can resume. My office assistant will submit my usual invoice to your office first thing Monday morning." Dane hung up without saying goodbye.

Lumie and Dane left the office and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen. Dane was sure Daisy would appreciate an extra pair of hands getting dinner ready, and maybe she could detach his new leech. The kits' bedtime couldn't come soon enough.

Mercury woke slowly, awareness returning to him in stages. Feeling came first: the softness of the bed underneath him and the warmth of the blankets covering him. Then a touch of mystery surfaced. Why wasn't he lying on the ground in the middle of a forest in his dragon form? Worry came afterwards. Where was he, to be in a bed, and where were his kits?

It was the worry that propelled Mercury's eyes open. He was met with the sight of a well-appointed room. The walls were a generic off-white color, complimented by light blue curtains closed over large windows. There was furniture along the walls too, but Mercury was more interested in the kit snoring lightly where he was curled on the end of the bed.

Chrome was in human form, strangely enough. He preferred his dragon shape because it made it easier for him to bite things, yet someone had convinced Chrome to stay in his more defenseless shape. Chrome was even dressed in loose sleeping pants and a T-shirt, another thing Mercury hadn't thought possible. Chrome snuffled in his sleep and rolled over. Sleepy brown eyes blinked slowly open, but they eventually focused firmly on Mercury's own bronze-colored ones.

It took a second for comprehension to kick in and then Chrome's eyes widened comically.

"Daddy's awake!" Chrome yelled at the top of his lungs, making Mercury jump in surprise. Chrome clumsily fell off the bed with a thump and then ran to the door. He yanked it open and yelled out into the hallway Mercury could see through the open door. "Daddy's awake!"

More thumps and bangs could be heard further down the hall and then a stampede of small feet pounded closer. Nickel was in the lead. His short blue hair was flattened slightly on one side from sleep, but his eyes were sharp as they took in Mercury's open eyes and the way he was awkwardly propped up on his pillows. 'Ron was just behind Nickel. She giggled happily and bounced onto the bed to give Mercury a clutching hug around his middle. Copper strolled in, saw that Mercury was okay, and turned back around. Mercury hadn't missed the fleeting look of relief that crossed Copper's face, but the most aloof of his kits wasn't about to openly declare that fact. He would probably tell the egg Mercury had little doubt he was heading back to curl up with all about it.

All of his kits looked clean and cared for. Someone had taken the time to give them baths and to get them into clothes, a feat Mercury didn't envy. All of his kits except one. Mercury looked around, half expecting Lumie to have snuck in somehow, but he didn't see his baby red.

"Where's Lumie?" Mercury asked. He untangled one hand from the covers so he could stroke 'Ron's hair. She was still hugging him tight and it didn't seem like she was going to let him go any time soon.

"He's gotten attached and I can't get him off," a new voice said from the doorway. Nickel didn't tense, so this stranger wasn't a danger, but he still looked wary. Mercury let a little magic flare between his fingers, the warmth fizzing welcomingly against his skin as he sat up a little straighter and turned to face the stranger.

Mercury recognized the look on the stranger's face even if Mercury didn't actually recognize him. The perplexed twist to his lips as he looked down at Lumie sleeping in his arms was one Mercury had seen on his own face in the mirror plenty of times. There was nothing quite like going to bed alone and waking up to find Lumie had somehow managed to sneak past his considerable defenses and latch on without waking him. Lumie had his hands fisted in the stranger's nightshirt and Mercury knew that if the man removed his arms where he was gently holding Lumie in place, Lumie wouldn't drop an inch.

The stranger looked bemused, but also resigned. He had apparently spent enough time with Lumie to get used to his quirks. Mercury wished he knew how much time had passed since he had fallen asleep in the woods. What exactly had happened to his kits that they had managed to find hospitality?

"You wouldn't know how to get him to let go?" the man asking pleadingly.

Mercury shrugged. "Not a clue. When he wakes up, he'll wander off somewhere." Now that he could see that Lumie was safe, Mercury refocused on the stranger. He was a gloriously beautiful man, almost too beautiful to be human. His nose was a thin blade between prominent cheekbones and wide blue eyes. His blond hair trailed in messy waves past his shoulders, emphasizing how broad and muscled they were. The tips of pointed ears poked through his hair, the ends pierced with silver rings that jingled as he shifted in place. He looked like a man from an age where hair was long as a fashion statement and cravats had more lace than sense, except he was wearing comfortable and functional looking cotton sleepwear instead of formalwear. Mercury knew he looked like a man who had spent years in the woods: unkempt and ragged. His hair was long because he needed a haircut, not because of any fashion. Although, Mercury didn't think he would look as good in pajamas as the stranger did even if he were properly groomed.

'Ron finally released Mercury and found a comfortable spot in his lap to curl up. "You don't look the same?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side as she studied the stranger curiously.