Chapter Text
Long ago, a king faced with the looming threat of dragons pursued a spell that could tie his bloodline to that of a dragon. He searched ceaselessly for a way to achieve this, and after years, he succeeded. He spilled his own blood, sacrificing his life, and by doing so promised a person of his bloodline to be tied to a dragon from birth. A blood-red mark will indicate the child that is to be the dragon’s fated. Due to the ancient King’s awe-inspiring insight, the kingdom continues to be protected by a prince or princesses' fated dragon and will continue to be for millennia.
Gaming was, at the moment, in a bit of a bind. He heaved a heavy sigh, pitifully holding the edges of the bars that kept him imprisoned. Sticking his face as far through the bars as he could, he peered at the area outside of his cell. The hallway wasn’t much to look at. A flat wall in front of him made up of rows of stone that stretched as far as he could see on either side. The torches placed on the walls cast a faint glow across the long empty hallway.
He clicked his tongue and returned to the inside of his cell. Or… He wasn’t sure he could call it a cell. A plush couch sat in the left hand corner of the large room, red and velvet. On the right an equally exquisite bed sat, bed sheets made and unused. Velvet curtains, similar to the couch, hung above a large window in the center of the wall. He wondered if there was a word for a luxury prison cell.
More things were scattered around. A dresser, a bookshelf, a bedside table. Gaming only quickly glanced towards these, not truly wanting to admit to himself the predicament he’s in.
He quietly paced around the room, his bare feet silently hitting the soft carpet beneath him. He fiddled with the edges of his sleeves, rubbing the hem between his fingers. They weren’t his clothes. He had woken to find his clothes changed, though there wasn’t much difference. The shirt he was wearing was still frilly at the collar and it still had large sleeves billowing outwards. However the shirt was now slightly whiter, the cream color of his original one that had come with age, washed clean of its color and its memories. As if the small stains from when he spilled something that the maids could never quite get out and the small embroidered mends that you would only notice if you knew where to search were carefully removed and the wear of time erased.
His clothes didn’t bother him much, or rather, there were many other things that bothered him much more … Like the fucking cell that he’s in.
He sat down on the bed, the luxurious mattress sinking generously under his weight. His hands that he rested on top of the fluffy blanket met beckoning softness. And despite his mind telling him to do otherwise, he lays atop the bed and his eyes slowly drift closed.
╔══《✧》══╗
Some of the details are wrong or distorted, but he recognized the place nonetheless. He’s sitting in his room. Much more elegant and expensive than his cell room and all that much more familiar. He makes his way around, feeling at the things he may never get to see again. A sense of longing mixing faintly with the bit of happiness he has at leaving this place.
Then his body abruptly moves of its own accord. Towards the door. Then out of it. He walks briskly through the hallway, headed to the front entrance. And suddenly he realizes what’s going to happen.
He’s about to step onto the carriage, every ounce of his fake imagined dream body trying to will itself to run, but he can’t. It’s already happened. His few guards were taken down quickly. Quietly. Without much fuss. And returning to the memory after the fact, he thought that kind of death suited him.
His body mimed being confused and scared, his hands shaking and whipping about in the air. Inside, he was calm. There was no reason to be scared. He supposed, in retrospect, that there was no point in his useless resistance when this first happened. He had known this was his fate. An inevitability that followed him since birth.
However, the forced movement of his body reenacting his past actions and fears still felt rather constricting. He was still floundering about when a large dragon appeared from the sky. Its white scales shimmered in iridescent rays as it lunged down at him.
He tilted his head upward, his body finally obeying his mind’s command. He looked straight into the dragon’s eyes. They shone like ice. Cold and blue. He had regretted not looking at the dragon more when this had played out the first time, he really thought it quite breathtaking and believed it to be a shame. He smiled at the dream dragon, something he had decidedly not done originally.
The mane of the dragon was a pale yellow, and a few of its scales were yellow here and there along the white of its body. Its belly and underwing a slightly deeper, but still very light blue. It was beautiful.
The edges of his lips were still raised as he continued admiring the beast. Suddenly, it halted mid air, returning Gaming’s stare. He flinched slightly at its abrupt stop. At a flap of the dragon’s wings, it retreated about a yard. Still staring intently at Gaming, it titled its head, a curious glint appearing in its eyes.
Seeing it react to his surprise, Gaming's smile returned. He reached out a hand, “It’s okay,” he cooed, talking as if speaking to a scared animal, “I just didn’t expect you to stop. I’m not scared.” He took a step forward. The dragon hesitated for a moment before slowly and deliberately moving towards Gaming.
“It’s okay, you can come over.”
Landing lightly on top of the carriage that Gaming was supposed to board, it craned its neck down so that Gaming’s hand was almost touching its face. He closed the gap, trying to keep his hand as gentle as possible. He ran his fingers across the side of the dragon’s face, the scales were hard and much colder than he had expected. The ridges of the scales felt quite pleasant under his fingertips. He moved his hand to the top of the dragon’s snout, petting between its horns. It purred a bit, seemingly satisfied.
Gaming eyed the two horns on its head, wondering if they were pure ice. They were slightly transparent and when the light hit them right, one could mistake them for gemstones. He moved his hand and tapped one with his index finger, confirming his suspicions.
“Your horns are ice..?” He spoke to the dragon as if it could respond, “Aren’t you cold?”
The dragon pulled back a bit. Then, slowly, it made a motion like it was nodding.
Gaming reached out once again, “Does petting help? Since I’m human, we tend to have pretty high body temperatures, maybe it could help? Do you know?”
It gave a small nod.
“Oh! Good!” He quickly hugged the dragon’s neck, petting its mane. The dragon nuzzled gently into the crook of Gaming’s neck letting out a low, purr-like sound.
“You know,” Gaming began, “You’re quite beautiful… Regal even,” he paused for a moment, “I’m glad I could see you again in my dream…” His eyes closed slowly, Gaming blinked in resistance. He felt exhausted. “I’m sorry, I’m just so tired…” He pet the dragon one more time, “I didn’t know… you could… feel tired… inside your own dreams…” Each word was labored, and by the end of the sentence his eyes had fully closed.
╚══《✧》══╝
Gaming blinked. His eyes still a bit heavy. Leaning against his elbow, he pulled the rest of his body up and off the bed.
“What a strange dream…”
He walked over to the closet, its large wooden doors creaking as it opened. He quickly changed into an outfit that looked almost identical to the one he previously had on. Simple, but quite nice nonetheless.
He moved a large plush chair next to the window. The window was relatively large and unbarred. Due to this window, he had long since discovered that he was in a tower. An extremely tall tower.
He opened the window a crack, letting a gentle breeze enter the room, and positioned his body. He began practicing old dance moves, the movement giving him a sense of peaceful freedom.
Before he had realized it, it was already mid-day, he had a light sheen of sweat over him, and a person was standing outside of his cell.
“Oh! Hello! I didn’t hear you!” Quite happy to at least have a bit of company, he tried to speak to this person as nicely as possible. Attempting, but failing quite obviously, at hiding the joy in his voice.
“Beautiful.” Gaming found this new person’s quiet voice a little alluring. And upon a second look, he found most everything about this person alluring.
Long pale blonde hair fell down past their shoulders and only missed the ground by little more than half a foot. Long bangs hid his right eye. He donned simple white and light blue clothing that seemed quite stiff around the torso, but a flowy, tulle-like fabric around the arms. There were arm windows across the length of the sleeves, revealing thin arms dotted with freckles that matched his cheeks. The simple clothing accentuated his tall, slender figure.
“No… I think you’re quite beautiful yourself…” Gaming said, his gaze still fixed.
“Oh.” A small surprised sound left his mouth, as if that had been the last thing he had expected Gaming to say. “Thank you…”
The man embarrassedly raised a hand in front of his face, hiding the rest of what was left unhidden from his bangs. The quiet voice coupled with the red of this stranger’s face made for an incredibly endearing sight.
Gaming found himself reaching out from between cold metal, softly grasping the thin wrist of the man before him. “Don’t hide. Don’t deprive me of looking at your beauty.” Gaming wondered when he had become a playboy.
The man’s unveiled eye widened at his words, and the red of his cheeks became significantly more opaque.
Gaming lets go of the man’s wrist, suddenly thinking it quite inappropriate. “Sorry for grabbing you, it happened before I realized it.” He says guilty.
“It’s quite alright.” The man says airily, fiddling with something behind his back. He lowers his gaze, and reveals a crystal rose out from behind him. He held it out to Gaming carefully, his fingertips shaking, “From the dragon.”
The scene in front of Gaming looked quite picturesque. He might’ve mistaken the man for a fairytale prince, had he not been the actual prince in this situation and had the black iron bars not been standing resolutely between them.
“From the dragon?” He whispered, mostly to himself. The man in front of him nodded.
“Happy birthday.” The man said, smiling awkwardly, but kindly.
“Huh?” Gaming said, surprisedly.
The man moved closer thinking Gaming couldn’t hear him, his face almost touching the bars, “Happy birthday,” he delicately fit his hand that was holding the rose through the bars, “A gift.”
“A gift…” Gaming repeated, “From the dragon..? For my birthday?” He looked up at the man quizzically.
The man nodded slowly, his long hair swishing from the motion, before saying, “Yes…” He stared at the floor, contemplating for a moment, “And an apology.”
Gaming took the rose from the man, a cold sensation spreading through his fingertips. Oh, ice.
“An apology?” He said, grazing his fingers across the glittering petals.
“For imprisoning you. I am–he is– We are sorry.” He corrected himself, guilt leaking into his soft tone as he stared into Gaming’s eyes.
“Then will you let me out?”
“Imprisonment was not our original intention. In a few days time, we will let you out of the cell. However…” He looked back at the ground, a somewhat sad expression on his face, “Your range of movement will still be limited. You won’t be able to go past a certain point, though it will be a large area, you will still be rather confined. I apologize.” The man apologetically bowed his head toward Gaming.
“Three questions,” Gaming holds up three fingers up to the man’s face, “Once I’m allowed out of the cell can I roam the tower and the outside area freely, why can’t you let me out now, and will I ever be able to leave the area you’ve set for me?”
He held out one finger, “Yes, you may go wherever you wish within the boundary. Nowhere in the tower or out in the fields is barred from you,” He unfurled a second finger, “I cannot let you out now because it is unsafe, this tower is surrounded by snow and barren land. If I were to let you out now, I’m worried you could get hurt or sick.”
He now held up three fingers, indicating the last question, “This question is more complicated. I would’ve answered it earlier, but I did not want to get your hopes up… Yes, you will be able to leave the set area, but only if you are accompanying m– uh– the dragon. He will likely not let you do this unless he trusts that you will not try to run away, which could end up being never. Hence why I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
“Hmm…” Gaming thought about it for a moment. He was thinking quite positively, he originally thought he was to live out the rest of his life here in the cell. Even back in his kingdom he was very confined, required to stay only within his palace. Knowing that he could go out and wander around, and even had the possibility of one day going out to town, his mood had improved quite a bit. “Okay!” He replied cheerfully, “Thank you for answering my questions, uh…” He suddenly realized that he didn’t know the man’s name, “What’s your name?”
A small smile fell across the man’s face, “Freminet,” His soft, quiet voice was steady and slightly sweet, “And yours?”
“You don’t know it already?”
“I do, but I’d rather learn it from you.” His smile became faintly sad. He returned his gaze to the floor, but Gaming still caught the bit of loneliness in his stare.
“Gaming.” He answered, reaching through the bars and patting Freminet lightly on the head. He was cold. Much colder than he had expected. But the faint, smooth coolness of the hair strands felt satisfying under his palm. “Nice to meet you, Freminet.”
“Thank you,” Freminet responds, revealing a small toothy smile. His whole demeanor relaxes, his shoulders drooping a bit. He casually looks behind Gaming, his smile being suddenly painted over with concern, “Oh! It’s much too late now, I’ve kept you too long! Please head to sleep soon…” He seems to mull over something in his head for a moment, “Sweet dreams.” He says gently before turning and walking briskly down the hallway.
He stood in his cell, his face morphing from surprised to thoughtful to happy. Gaming had almost wanted to ask Freminet to stay with him, to have him sing a lullaby or something of the sort. His voice was gentle, yet clear and soothing. Like a cold cup of water after a long day out in the sun.
He closed the window and placed the ice rose onto his bedside table. The soft, lilting voice he had just been listening to rang through his head, ‘Happy birthday.’
He hadn’t truly celebrated his birthday in a long while. He allowed his few maids to give him birthday wishes, but by no means allowed them to give him gifts. They were already hard-pressed as it is and he did not want to add to it. He had thought he made peace with not receiving a gift or, in the case of his family members, not even acknowledging his birthday. But his heart felt a little lighter looking at the rose.
He hummed quietly as he changed into nightwear, and laid down comfortably in his bed. He positioned himself so that he could look at the rose, staring at it until he slowly nodded off.
Freminet’s soft tones recited themselves in his head, softly saying, ‘Sweet dreams,’ ushering him into a calm sleep.
╔══《✧》══╗
Gaming blinked his eyes open. A vast green field sat quietly in front of his eyes, a dragon sitting very conspicuously among the flowers and greenery.
Gaming leaned down and ran his fingers across the soft grass, bits of dew moving from the plants and clinging to his fingertips at the touch. Who knew dreams could feel so real?
He walked to the dragon, wanting to speak with it. Or… Speak to it, he presumed?
The dragon was laying down, curled into a relaxed ball. Its long neck extended around its body, laying its head on the grass with its eyes closed peacefully.
He approached, kneeling down in the grass right in front of the dragon. He reached a hand out to pet its snout and softly cooed to the dragon, “Good morning, sunshine.” Its eyes blinked open languidly, glassy and unfocused. It looks up at him for a moment before its eyes widened and it nuzzled Gaming with its snout.
Gaming laughed comfortably, lightly petting the neck of the dragon. He sat and petted for a minute before getting lost in thought.
“You know…” He said to the dragon, “I met a man today.” The dragon stilled for a moment, then turned its head towards Gaming curiously.
“He was very beautiful.” He said, quietly thinking of the man. The dragon moved off Gaming’s lap and laid next to him, hiding its face with its claws. Thinking the dragon was a bit jealous, Gaming added, “Of course, you’re just as beautiful!” His words turned into a small chuckle at the end. He found this dragon just too cute.
Petting the dragon’s back softly, he continued, “He said that I don’t have to stay in the cell… Is that true?” He didn’t know if he truly believed it. It felt a bit too good to be true.
The dragon removed its hands from its face, looking at him quickly. It vigorously nodded its head. Suddenly, it stood, circling him. It nuzzled against him a couple times, then laid quietly on the ground, surrounding him. Gaming laid back onto the dragon’s large body. Its head was laying right in front of Gaming and he couldn’t resist patting its large snout.
“He also said that I can even leave the tower, is that also true?” Gaming now believed the man he met fully, he just wanted to tease this funny dragon. It turned its head towards him and nodded excitedly.
“He also gave me a rose,” The dragon’s head stopped in the middle of nodding, “He said you made it for me for my birthday. Is that true?” The dragon opened its mouth, as if smiling, and nestled its head against Gaming’s chest. It paused, looking up at Gaming and gave a small little nod.
“That’s so kind of you.” Gaming said sweetly. He grabbed the sides of the dragon's face and positioned it so that its head was now laying on his lap. He leaned down slowly, fitting his head between the two cold horns on the dragon’s head, and planted a soft kiss on its forehead. The dragon flinched. It seemed like it wanted to get up, but it remembered Gaming was laying against it. Not wanting to trouble Gaming, it settled for putting its clawed hands over its eyes once again.
He gazed down at the cute, shy dragon, “I’m glad you took me.”
The dragon removed one hand from its face, looking silently at Gaming.
“I’ve gotten a birthday present for the first time in many years and I’ll get to mess around in the area around the tower. I’ve met a lovely dragon who is very kind to me…” He was thinking aloud, his negative memories of his time confined to his palace causing his tone to turn slightly sorrowful.
The dragon moved its body slightly, adjusting so that his snout was placed in the crook of Gaming’s neck. Its body tightened around him, the sturdy weight comforting him.
“Is this a hug?” He said, rubbing his cheek on the dragon’s neck and wrapping both arms around its long, scaly neck. He could feel himself getting tired. “Thank you,” he held tightly onto the dragon, “I wish we could meet in real life… Not just my dreams… I promise I won’t… Be scared… So, meet me… Okay?” He forced each word from his lips, wishing he had said it earlier. Wishing he could’ve seen the dragon’s reaction.
╚══《✧》══╝
He woke up with a vague sense of loss. He wanted to feel the secure weight behind his back, the gentle nudges of a snout. His eyes still absentmindedly searched for the spots of reflected light that bounced off iridescent scales.
He opened the window, a cold wind blasting into his room. The cool sensation reminded him of a beautiful dragon. Before long, he started shivering and had to make do with simply grasping the ice rose.
He spent the day trying to do random things. He tried to read, to dance, to sketch, but he kept coming back to the ice rose. Ultimately, he had spent the better part of the day doing pretty much nothing. By evening, his desire to meet the dragon had seemed to reach its height.
He wondered how he could meet the dragon in real life. Wasn’t he the dragon’s fated partner? There had to be some kind of fated-partner-magic to summon the dragon… He figured it was tied to its name, now regretting never having asked. He only knew one person's name…
“Freminet.” He said clearly. He waited for a moment and after nothing happened, he gave up quietly in his heart.
“Did you need something?” A quiet voice breaks the silence, the voice slightly more confident than yesterday.
Gaming suddenly felt shy, wondering if he deserved to meet the dragon when he hadn’t even deigned to ask its name. “Could I… Meet the dragon..?” He finally responded.
Freminet’s eyes widened, his mouth parted. A cute expression.
“You truly want to?” Freminet said, clearly disbelieving.
“Of course, who wouldn't want to meet their fated.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Mind what?”
“Mind being tied by fate to a monster.”
“A monster, huh..?” Gaming thought for a moment, the continued as if he hadn’t heard the question, “I believe he’s been visiting my dreams.”
The man froze in place.
“It seems I was correct to assume that,” Gaming walks over to the bars where Freminet stood, “I’d like to meet the dragon.” He says once again.
Freminet turned his face away, “You may meet when you are released from confinement.”
“When will that be?” Gaming grasps the bars.
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“I want to meet today.”
Freminet sighs, seeming to contemplate something very serious.
“I can’t even meet my fated partner when I want to..? I miss the dragon…” Gaming said, intentionally trying to sound pitiful. This tactic seems to work well. The hesitation is blatant in Freminet’s eyes.
“You can.” He says, his soft voice still laced with hesitancy. Gaming can feel the sides of his mouth pulling up into a smile. His heart feels unbelievably light.
Gaming looks at Freminet, expectantly waiting for him to leave and go get the dragon. “Don’t be surprised… Don’t regret it… Please.” Freminet’s already quiet voice reached a small whisper.
Freminet steps into the hallway, far enough that Gaming can no longer see him, but his steps abruptly stop. Gaming sits in the silence for a moment before becoming worried. Reaching his hand through the bars he tentatively says, “Freminet?”
The head of a familiar dragon peeks out from the hallway, its head nervously nuzzling Gaming’s hand for a second. Gaming’s hand lays still in the air, his brain trying to catch up. The dragon walks in front of him. It lowers its head a couple of inches away from his outstretched hand.
Something clicks. “Freminet?” He says, realization twinging his tone and expression.
It nods slowly for a long while before a small, “Yes.”
Gaming takes a step back, surprised at the voice of the man he met coming out of this dragon. Freminet backs up all the way to the wall, continuously pushing his weight against it as if he wanted to retreat further still.
Gaming felt a vague sense of deja vu.
“No, don’t back away,” Gaming steps forward, pressing his torso against the bars and reaching both arms through, “I want a hug.”
The dragon quickly moves towards him. But even though they are decently close, it’s difficult for Gaming to actually wrap his arms around the dragon. “Can you come in here?”
The space in front of him suddenly empties and a large weight sits behind his back. He turns around as Freminet partially wraps him up. Gaming turns around in the embrace, looking for Freminet’s head.
After finding a pair of icy blue eyes, he stares at the dragon, “Of course… I should’ve known.” He rubbed his cheek against Freminet’s snout. “You’re both just too beautiful and lovely.”
Freminet turns away, trying to hide his face. A gentle smile spreads across Gaming’s face.
“Which form are you more comfortable in?” Gaming asks curiously, his smile deepening.
“Neither. The years before you arrived…” He paused for a moment, “I used a form that was a sort of amalgamation of both. Though, it seemed like you would be familiar with one or the other. Of course, I was afraid to meet you in my dragon form. But I was worried that they wouldn’t let me see you if I came as a human, and that left me no choice.”
Gaming chuckled to himself, “You didn’t need to worry about that. They were waiting for the day I was to be taken. Probably praying it would arrive sooner,” He pauses, thinking for a moment, “Please change to the form you are most comfortable with, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me… I’m also a bit curious.” He gives Freminet a silly, toothy smile.
“...Okay, but please don’t be disgusted.”
“Oh, I would never–” The dragon body wrapped around him disappears, replaced by Freminet’s new form. He was mostly human in shape, making Gaming wonder what Freminet was so worried about. His pupils were now a vertical slit, he had no visible irises, and the whites of his eyes were replaced with a delicate light blue. As Freminet stretched his body, Gaming could see that his hands were covered in scales and his fingernails were sharply pointed.
The icicle horns now jutted up from his forehead, parting his bangs slightly and revealing his other eye. Large wings rested against his back, completed with scales matching the rest of his body. His scales shined and the reflected light bounced onto the ground and walls in rainbow hues. A smaller version of his dragon tail swung nervously behind him. The dark, cat-like slits of his eyes darted from one of Gaming’s eyes to the other as Gaming examined him silently.
“Freminet… It’s simply not fair.” Gaming said, shaking his head. Freminet’s eyes widened, fear creeping into his features. Freminet once again retreated, trying to turn around, but Gaming caught his face with his hands. Gently rubbing the scales scattered around his face, Gaming continued, “It’s just not fair that you’re always this beautiful.” Gaming let out a big, toothy smile.
He grabbed Freminet’s hand and brought him over to the bed. He laid down and Freminet prompted to sit on the edge. He allowed himself to quietly stare at Freminet, slowly becoming dreary. His worry of the day, being unable to meet the dragon, had been resolved. And with Freminet’s presence also in the room he felt the most relaxed he’d ever been. Slowly, his eyes closed, drifting off.
╔══《✧》══╗
He was back in the field of the previous dream. But instead of a large dragon awaiting him, it was Freminet. Or I guess it always was. He thought to himself.
Freminet was fidgeting with his hands, seemingly waiting for Gaming to come over. Gaming obliged.
“Oh yeah!” Gaming said, “Why’d you say you’re a monster? I was mad at you for saying that about the dragon, so I didn’t answer you then. But now that I know you’re one in the same…”
“That’s what everyone’s always called me. Humans, at least. I assumed you’d feel the same. And you are unwillingly tied to me, so I believed that if anyone had the right to feel that way it would be you.”
“Hmm…” Gaming’s heart was weeping for the dragon in front of him, “I’ve never resented you. My family, sure. But never you. From my understanding, you are also unwillingly tied to me .” He smiles softly at Freminet.
“I used to feel that way when I was young, but no longer.”
“Hey, I don’t really know much about how our story is viewed by dragons, and I bet you don’t know how it’s viewed by humans either! So, how about we share our stories? I want to know the dragon version so terribly!”
“Okay.”
“Great, I’ll go first!” Gaming sits down, and pulls Freminet’s hand to have him sit down too, “In the royal family, or really among everyone in the kingdom, the dragon's fated person is despised.” Freminet’s eyes widened. He leans forward, clearly wanting him to continue. “It’s not really hatred . It’s more similar to fear. They fear the dragon, so they fear me. Or if they don’t fear the dragon, they fear becoming attached to me, when I am destined to be taken away. For a long while, the fated have been shunned by the royal family. If the family were to get too attached to the fated child, the day where they must be taken would be that much more painful. So after generations of painful partings, they decided it best to just ignore the fated child. They can’t just simply let us die though, so we get the bare minimum of what they deem as necessities. Anyways, as the story goes in the kingdom, a king long ago created a powerful spell that tied a royal family member to a dragon from birth. Making that royal the dragon’s fated person, and thus giving the royal family a dragon for an ally. The person that is fated will be born with the ‘mark of blood’ and that’s how both the family and the dragon will know who is to be taken.” He holds a bit of the hair that he knows is red in his hands, pulling at it a bit, “I was honestly waiting to leave, so thank you…”
He finished, turning his gaze to Freminet. He lets out a sound of surprise as he sees wet tears streaming down Freminet’s face. “W-What?!” Gaming moves, wiping the tears as they come. A small happiness blooming at the thought of someone crying for him, for his struggles. Even though he himself has long accepted them. “I didn’t tell you that for you to cry,” He whispers to Freminet, rubbing the wings on his back. Trying to change the subject he says, “It’s your turn remember? I want the The Tale of the King and The Dragon, Dragon Edition !”
Freminet finally gathers himself, his soft tone only slightly tinged with his sadness, “In terms of the story itself, it’s mostly the same. Except we refer to it as a curse, not a spell. Although it is called our ‘fated person’, it is typically not determined from birth. The mark is something given to our loved one, after meeting and falling in love. For example, I would have met you, fallen in love and then chosen to mark you. Only once I marked you would this section of your hair turn red.”
Freminet reached out and began fiddling with the red in Gaming’s hair before continuing, “It’s a physical manifestation of the connection, but in a way it is also used like a wedding ring for humans. It’s to indicate that someone is unavailable, pursuing someone who has a mark is equivalent to threatening to kill that dragon, as our fated is the most important person in the world to us. You can’t remove the mark, but humans can live with it, because the effects of the mark are less intense for humans. We dragons cannot. If we don’t live together with our fated, we lose the will to live. Your ancestor used their own blood to essentially tie my ancestor to an artificial mark, hence the ‘mark of blood’ that you bear. My natural mark would likely be blue, or white like my scales.”
His gaze turns down to the grass, a small bit of regret spreading through them. He shakes it off, his voice filling the air again, “A mark connects the dragon to their fated on a physical and emotional level. If you were to die, I would be in excruciating physical pain for the rest of my life. Along with that, intense emotions are shared between us. Your ancestor did that to protect the royal family as a whole, but it is a kind of sacrifice. Dragons are very possessive of their fated, and even if it is an artificial mark, being without your fated is very uncomfortable. So the person tied to the dragon is almost guaranteed to be taken.”
It seems like something occurs to him, his frown blooming into an unexpected smile, “However, a few dragons use the term ‘favored person’ rather than ‘fated’ and that would be more accurate. Most dragons use ‘fated’ because they’d like to believe that is true. In our case, it is. Our mark was predetermined. Or predestined if you’d like it to be a bit more romantic. Many dragons believe that I’m pitiful and feel sorry for me… But I am somewhat of a hermit. I don’t believe I could’ve or would’ve found a fated person on my own. I consider our connection a blessing.” He takes Gaming’s hand into his, looking at him seriously, trying to convey his sincerity.
“Well, since we’re fated… Can I summon you or something like in books?” Gaming his words come out quickly and excitedly as he smiles up at Freminet, “Wait, did I already? When I said your name?”
A small, delicate smile worms its way across Freminet’s face. “Sort of. I can hear whenever you say my name, but I am not required to answer. However, if you wish, I will promise to come to you whenever you call me.”
Gaming gapes at him before he grins goofily, “Hehe, aren’t I incredible? I can summon a dragon whenever I’d like.”
“Indeed, you are,” Freminet concedes.
“Okay. Now time for the dating questions! What are your favorites?” Gaming exclaims, laying down abruptly onto Freminet’s lap.
“Dating… Questions?” Freminet repeats.
“Yeah, come on! Favorite color, food, shape, etcetera. Your favorite everything! Oh! And your birthday! We’re already fated, might as well make the most of it!” He points absently in the air, his finger waving around.
“Oh, I see… I… like blue and white. Though that may sound conceited because my dragon form is those colors, but my favorite things are those colors. Ice, snow, water, the sky, and clouds.” Freminet looks up as he speaks, a comfort that he hasn’t felt before washing over him.
Cool hands parse through Gaming’s hair, pointed nails grazing his scalp. He leaned into the touch, calm and utterly relaxed.
“I think I like red. As a kid, I hated it. But I think I’m starting to really love it.”
They went back and forth sharing information about themselves for quite a while. They lost track of time, if that’s even possible within a dream. Slowly, Gaming felt himself become dreary, but he forced himself to finish what he was talking about.
“—that’s why…favorite flower… snowdrops…” His delirious sentences earned him a small giggle from Freminet.
Freminet’s eyes curved into gentle crescents. He runs his hands through Gaming’s hair, cherishing the smooth feeling. He watches as Gaming’s heavy eyes close in sleep. His tail swinging quickly behind him in quiet happiness.
His heart felt light for the first time in his life. There was someone who was comfortable with his touch, who wanted it. He paused at the red strands of hair that were now between his fingers. He gazed at it for a moment, letting it slip in and out of the gaps between his fingers.
He hesitantly leaned down and pressed his lips to the red. The smooth strands felt warm against his mouth, the heat reaching all the way to his chest and gently melting his heart.
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