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From the day that Neuvillette is first aware of his own existence, he hears singing when he slumbers. It marks him as one of the lucky ones. Only dragons who will be fortunate enough to meet their true mates hear their mate’s song in their dreams.
And yet- what Neuvillette hears isn’t dragon song.
It’s a human song, the voice that sings it sweet and high and perfect to him, though he tries to deny that. He feels like he shouldn’t enjoy it so much when it goes so far against his expectations, when he should be rejecting it out of hand considering how the humans have sided with the Usurpers. And yet-
And yet.
When he comes to Fontaine upon the request of the Usurper’s strange heir, his dreams are partially the reason. If his mate is truly human, then he must find them before he has cause to lose them. Even if he can’t be sure that they’re born yet. Even if he shouldn’t want to keep them.
His reservations about his mate being human don’t matter when losing them is a far worse prospect.
If he can just tie their lifelines to his-
Whenever he has opportunity in the midst of trying to settle into his role, he haunts the places where the humans might have cause to sing. Since he got here, there has been a niggling feeling within him that his mate is close. He feels like he’s overlooking something, like he’s intentionally missing key clues that would let him find the person he’s searching for.
“You seem rather obsessed with music, dragon.” Lady Furina says one day as she sprawls on a couch in his office and flips through some of the music sheets he’d been collecting. He’d been trying to see if any of them matched the songs in his dreams. Some of them came startlingly close.
It’s bizarre- how if anyone else tried that he would be at their throat with his teeth bared, but since it’s her he’s just permitting it. He should feel more defensive since it’s her; she’s the Usurper’s successor, the one who now possesses his stolen powers. Neuvillette doesn’t understand why he’s so drawn to her, why he feels the need to shadow her steps in his free time when he’s not trying to hunt down his mate. The fact that he watches her so closely would make more sense if it was because he doesn’t trust her, yet that’s not how he feels at all.
So he confuses himself when instead of snapping, he only says mildly, “Music has existed since long before the human’s felt they ‘discovered’ it. Why would I stop enjoying it just because another race feels like it belongs to them? I enjoyed music before I came here.”
“True, true.” Furina laughs easily, taking no offense to the subtle bite in his tone. She never does. He’s beginning to think that she’s too kind to deserve his sharper edges. “But if you don’t mind human voices, you should come watch me perform sometime. Who knows, my performance might even be good enough to make you smile! I am the Archon- I like to think my performances are rather special.”
“Hmm.” Neuvillette hums non committedly as he goes back to his paperwork, but when Furina later hands him an invitation with a cheeky smile he arranges to be there.
He doesn’t know what he’s expecting when he sits in the front of the darkened Opera Epiclese, waiting for the performance to begin. But when the voice of his dreams sounds out in the theater, sweeter and clearer than ever before, and Furina appears shortly afterward and it is clear that the sound is coming from her-
It would be enough to make him close his eyes at his own stupidity if he were not so enthralled with Furina’s performance on stage. His dragon rests inside him, smug and relieved now that Neuvillette is no longer in denial, dedicatedly ignoring all the hints that the beast has been trying to give him.
A special performance, indeed. If only Furina knew how true that was.
Neuvillette breathes in slowly as he takes in every second of it, wondering to himself how he is going to reveal what she is to him.
He doesn’t know it yet, but-
It will take him a long, long time before he is able to do so.