Gingerbread Cookies
John and Marlo are making Christmas Eve dinner and supper also for the Eve of the Day of Great Birth, a holiday created conjointly with Humanity and Dragonkind to celebrate the birth of the creator of the dragons, Bahamut.
While they try to call one of their only and very special friend over for the meal, they bake their sweet gingerbread cookies as a little annual tradition.
Afterwards, lots of heartwarming surprises come forth after dinner when they get to the holiday tree...
It was snowing outside.
The sky was dark.
And, more easily apparent and noticeable, cold.
It was winter outside with flakes of ice crystals falling slowly and whitening the ground, especially the massive backyard. While some would say it is a bunch of empty space, it had a significant amount of freedom to just…move. This was also very important and useful to those inside a structure to shelter from this rather uncomfortable set of conditions and temperatures.
A rather large and space-filled house meant for a full family had its back facing the said open yard. Windows inside showcased a human-made home with plenty of lights on to illuminate the natural darkness of the Moon, which took the place of the burning celestial body that is the Sun.
The said windows covered a great amount of the wall facing the yard, with several wooden structures inside described as tables and chairs, a place of sitting while consuming or drinking food or drinks respectively.
Hidden by the wall that were there were several cooking appliances meant to prepare such foodstuffs and cupboards with a refrigerator to either store the mechanisms themselves or the contents they were meant to hold to convert something raw or unconsumable into something that could be tasted and fully enjoyed. Also in various drawers of the white-tiled kitchen were various spices, measuring cups, and smaller amounts of ingredients to make a meal. The cupboards held various pots, pans strainers, bowls, cups, the whole lot. These were needed to make virtually anything from scratch.
An island, a countertop of multicolored granite in the middle of the kitchen space, filled up a good part of the room. It had a cubicle double sink that faced a stove to cook against the wall to the right of the windows facing the outside.
To the left of said island and sink was an appliance of a double oven, one stacked onto the other.
Currently, the top one has a timer on it and a temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
It had digital numbers denoting less than a minute.
In fact, it was ticking down silently and close to zero, where it would go off with noises based on its programming.
5……
4……
3……
2……
1……
DA-DING! DA-DING! DA-DING! DA-DING!
The timer went off.
Then, somehow, it stopped.
Then, without any physical contact, the handed door opened downwards, releasing a bit of steam out that quickly disappeared and revealed the oven's contents. While it showed two black grills and a few of the apparatus's mechanical insides, something else was of attention.
On a rectangular metallic pan were several light brown objects that were cooking before in the shape of cutout humans and dragons.
Gingerbread cookies.
“John! The gingerbread cookies are done!"
The voice belonged to a purple psychic drake named Marlo, the mate of the aforementioned John. He viewed the confections and saw that they looked rather well done. Gazing at the newly baked treats, he used his sensitive and strong draconic nostrils and took a whiff of the cookies. He then let out a huff of satisfaction.
Ahhhhh.
His olfactory senses picked up the key ingredients of the gingerbread.
Spice and cinnamon.
Molasses.
And…most importantly…
Ginger.
Mmmmmm…
They smelled good.
Marlo and his mate John would always do this around this time of year. It was a little tradition the two did. Making and baking the cookies together.
Afterall, it was Christmas Eve.
This was a widely celebrated human holiday was a time to see family members with a large meal, deserts, and giving gifts for one another. They would also spend time together and hope for a better year in the coming future.
John and Marlo celebrated Christmas with just the two of them and a friend of theirs. Afterall, they would rather have nobody know about the two of them being together except their only true companion in this world.
While others celebrated other holidays around this time such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, Dragonkind was a different story.
When dragons revealed themselves to the world and integrated into society, there were many questions as to how they would place themselves into this universe of endless possibilities and things they don't understand.
Holidays being one of them.
While not exactly a massive priority compared to changing the very foundations of the world they initially thought was only their own, Humanity sought to make Dragonkind included in the great holiday celebration at the end of the year.
As such, the concept of the Day of Great Birth was born.
A holiday conceived by leaders within the dragon community conjointly with Humanity, the day was set to December 25th to be celebrated in tandem with Christmas and other special occasions to celebrate the hatching of the draconic god Bahamut, the one who is created all of Dragonkind.
Similar to any globe-wide holiday, it was to be one filled with meeting family, enjoying each other's presence despite possibly living far away, eating and drinking in excess, and praising the one that was their great creator.
It was the best and only solution for being inclusive for the newly introduced dragon race, and was massively successful, although the dragons who isolated themselves from the Humanity and those drakes and dragonesses already in society didn't believe in such a thing, as they thought that it was propaganda and a distraction from the true problems within the world.
Dragonkind was abused for their abilities in parts of the earth, and even treated like animals and slaves in some ways. They were also treated lower in some ways in many more places despite being as intelligent and sapient as the humans that let them in in the first place. Poaching, the act of illegally hunting dragons for their scales, claws, horns, and other amenities, ran rampant as well in some parts of the U.S. despite national efforts to end it. Celebrating such a thing when tragedies such as these existed probably left a bad taste in those said dragons' mouths. They likely felt that the idea of celebrating the birth of Bahamut on a single day more than others also may have rubbed the dragons the wrong way, the notion appearing somewhat wrong.
Still, John, Marlo, and their friend celebrated this great day to praise the creators of them, their species, their world, and their universe despite the darkness in the world.
Maybe that was part of the point of the two holidays.
To give hope and faith in the goodness of Humanity and Dragonkind and the celebration of life, bring forth prayer for those less fortunate.
To give hope that maybe Humanity and Dragonkind can live together peacefully as one people.
To give hope that the world can stop for one moment to be grateful for such things and forget about the worst things of the plane of existence they stood on.
All in the name of love and happiness.
Marlo heard the footsteps of his mate in a room somewhere, likely one of the family rooms to the left of the one he was facing.
At the end of the wall of windows was a glass door outlined with polish brown wood within its similarly shaped and colored doorway, facing Marlo and the kitchen. To the left of that was a rather large living room.
With a massive flat screen television on the wall facing the drake, there were three stuffed deer heads mounted on the wall above it, brown and white fur, glassy eyes, antlers, and all. They were the greatest the two had ever gotten, their heads and their hard protrusions treasured as the biggest ones they ever shot or caught.
Ah, memories…
A long couch faced the TV, with a smaller one on the left side facing it as well, as if to create two of the four sides of a square. The longer one also had a recliner on the right end of it for maximum relaxation. A small and very low table was in the middle of it all with a couple of drawers to boot, likely for things the two will need every now and then. On the right side of the “square" was a fireplace in the wall itself, a rotary dial on the side of the cemented stone controlling it and exuding bright orange colors and warmth with comfort.
However, what was with many moving parts and would gain the attention of anyone, was the entertainment center underneath the TV.
When the two weren't watching football, hockey, or some other sport, they would use one of the various systems and devices within. In the middle were three cubbies that were filled with technology and electricity-driven objects, with drawers on the sides with the contents to play off of.
The first of the three cubbies that went downward that was the highest had black rectangular boxes stacked on one another. The lower one was thin, with the word “CD" on it, and on top was a larger, plastic covered one with a circular device inside, the clear material likely to prevent dust from getting in.
On the right of the two in the very thin space that wasn't occupied was an image, a side view of a bald human looking away on the side gazing out into a painted vista of blue, white, and red on top above a lake and under a massive cloud about to storm of faded blue and red, bent stones in the middle and the actual paint dripping off of the bottom
At the bottom, in unique thin red letters on the left on a flat white background, was a word.
Rush.
Oh, Rush.
Music...
When Marlo first learned of music of a hobby of John's after they got to know one another because of being debilitated from a poacher's bullet earlier in his life, it predictably made no logical sense to him.
Like all dragons who have never heard such things before, the purple drake perceived it as just…well…noise.
To be fair, it was just a bunch of sounds from instruments played together to create something unique.
To a human, it created music, a phenomenon in which one could listen to such things with a singing voice, finding it enjoyable.
To a dragon however, it sounded like a whole lot of obnoxious annoyances.
They found strings scratchy, percussion ear-piercing, vocals out of place, and drums distracting.
Marlo, being stuck in one place, the home of his savior and future mate John, was left a bit open-minded given the circumstances. Still, he struggled to get the appeal of such a thing.
Who could blame him?
Humans were born to understand, accept, and enjoy such things, but dragons, who were hatched without the cues or such thoughts, saw it as a horrible assault on the ear holes.
However, with some advice from the human when leaving the drake alone one day to hunt deer, he slowly but surely began the climb to understand this “music" thing John talked about after failing to get any of it.
“See it as a whole, not as several pieces."
“See it all as a part of a rhythm, a beat if you will."
“Hear it as a human would."
Then, after John left with his rifle, Marlo decided to take the bit of guidance and give this concept one last chance.
With this…thing he called a “record player", the psychic drake fumbled with the drawer due to not being fully acclimated with his mental abilities at this point in his life. He opened the cubby that held the records themselves in paperboard covers with lots of color and detail on them.
He shuffled through them to find one that peaked his interests.
Then he came upon one…
It was a dust covered sleeve that was a dirty and dark green color. In the middle was a copper looking portrait or picture of a robed man who looked a little lifeless in the eyes, having its hand away from a shiny prism in the middle like it was some scary object he was to avoid.
In similar metallic coloration were four words, one on top and three on the bottom of the picture, bending themselves around the circular artwork.
Rush.
Caress of Steel.
Marlo looked at the cover art. It was minimalistic, yet detailed. It wasn't going to matter anyway if he played it. John already made many attempts on many other “albums" and “bands" as he called them, so why would this one be any different?
So, with shaky psychic grips on the plastic cover and a slide of the black disc, he placed it on the player, and, without further ado, he placed the needle on the outside end like John always did.
Little did he know that he accidentally had the B Side up instead of the A one. This meant that he started playing the side of the album that had only one song on it.
The Fountain of Lamneth.
The second longest song in their entire catalogue at nearly _twenty _minutes long.
It was the song that changed his outlook on music forever.
It started off soft, then explosive. Marlo noticed it had defined parts to it. Taking John's advice and closing his eyes, listening to the lyrics and strings, he sat and heard it all.
Time passed, and, about twenty minutes later, it finished.
He stood still.
Marlo….
When it ended…he…h-he…
He cried.
The purple drake didn't notice he had tears running down the side of his face and plopping onto the wooden floor.
Dragonkind had pride be an integral part of their minds and life. Crying for reasons that were deemed unnecessary would be perceived as weak to the dragon race, b-but…..
It just was…i-it was…
It was…beautiful.
It was a song about life.
Being born.
Noticing the world around you.
Finding a goal in life.
Leaving family behind.
Traveling to that destination.
Finding love.
Finding companionship in others.
Meeting that said goal in life, then…
Then…
Then…
Then…ending up at the start, wanting more, realizing that after all was said and done…
Then what?
That was life.
And the sounds…ohhhhhhh…
The guitars created melodies and such pretty strums.
The bass created a basis for all the guitars.
And finally, the drums created a rhythm and showed intensity.
Such sounds…such emotion…such…
Such…
Then it clicked.
It…this was music.
It made Marlo realize that music was a way for people to express themselves, to talk about the joys, the struggles, the horrors, and the condition of life itself.
After that, he listened for hours and hours, even when John came back to the living room, now a mess of album covers everywhere and music blaring loud.
Even when he got through everything, Marlo didn't know what to do, until John said, “Music is meant to be enjoyed forever, to understand and love it even more, so we can listen to it over and over…."
Now, music was an art to him, like all humans who lived.
When he and John became mates, the two listened to what John liked the most and then some.
Ah, the oldies…
Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd, Journey, The Who, early Black Sabbath, David Bowie…
And Rainbow, er, well, the first three albums, anyway.
One of their favorites was Metallica. They were certified fans.
Such pleasant memories.
Underneath that cubby was a thin rectangular box like the one above it.
It had a singular blue word with a similarly shaded lower case “b" and a crescent to the right.
Blu-ray.
It was a movie player.
Marlo understood films easier than music, but it was still very unusual to him at first.
Humans making up stories and having people with false identities play characters? In hindsight, it didn't make any sense at all for the same reason as music for the psychic drake, but he began to understand it.
It was like a tale a dragon would tell their hatchlings, except it could be seen and heard.
The first that his mind really grasped onto was Fantasia.
What a nice film.
It was a more visual experience. Thanks to understanding music beforehand, it was a nice treat.
Then, the next one that worked for him was Star Wars, and
Then….
Yep. Then, the rest was history.
So many movies, so many stories.
Some filled with heartbreak, emotion, lessons, morals, fear….
Ah, it was so great.
Below that was the last shelf, and on it was a large black box with several square-shaped holes on the front and a thin hole meant for flat discs.
Oh yes, Marlo remembered video games as well.
Unlike film and music, he understood these the least.
It was just so complex, and John making horrible choices in the first games to try didn't help anything either.
They required input from a person via a “controller" as it was called. The number of things to do on them was overwhelming.
It was simply too much for the drake to wrap his head around.
The concepts of the games John chose were also downright awful for a first-time player with zero expectations.
However, with some assistance from the more calculative and understanding friend of theirs, Marlo slowly built-up experience to the point of being astonished by how complex and great they became.
Their friend gave what seemed like a gateway drug to the psychic dragon.
Marlo didn't play as much as John, and he didn't play them to even a decent extent to begin with, but when they did, especially with this person that aided them, it was blast.
Another in the list of things Marlo has done and more so with his mate.
However, something reared its ugly head when Marlo got a taste of all of this.
Many films, songs, and video games were amazing, but….
Some of them had concepts of dragons.
Before they revealed themselves to the world and became a part of society.
As a side effect of this, dragons in some of these older products painted dragons in a negative light, breathing fire, biting, slashing, and killing.
It brought up the fact that a part of Humanity was conditioned somewhat to seeing Dragonkind as a threat despite seeing them only as myths until they appeared and introduced themselves.
It came to the point that governments create extensive projects to remove all negative connotations towards Dragonkind in products everywhere, but even they couldn't stop everything, as most things that were created with such material deemed appalling before the draconic integration on the world's stage was left alone. What was left as a byproduct were many references, images, sounds, and stories that were offensive.
It was a horrible fact Marlo came to terms with when he discovered these parts of human foundations in John's house. Still, he would stride through it all with his mate.
John would do the same for him.
To the left of the smaller couch and to the very left of the entertainment center was a green tree with several colorful balls hooked onto it. Golden and red lines of tinsel were wrapped around it carefully. It was lit up by several tiny light bulbs of a spear shape all connected through green wires. On top of it all at the tip was an image of the draconic creator himself, Bahamut. A sitting silver dragon with its wings folded behind it, it had a large blue plastic sapphire on the front of the breast with white eyes.
At the base was a red rug with white cotton on the outer edges.
On it were two multicolored boxes of white, red, and green wrapped in red ribbon bows.
One was large and had a rectangular shape, and another was a small box that could be held in a dragon's paw.
“Wait for me Marlo!", said John obscured in another room.
Marlo placed the pan down with his powers on the stove with a light clang.
All along the countertop to the sides of it were various foods and some desserts.
Turkey, ham, some potatoes, corn, and some pumpkin pie.
Ah, they couldn't wait.
Marlo looked behind him, darting his bright blue eyes back and forth, not seeing his mate.
The drake then got a mischievous thought in his head.
Those cookies looked so, _so _good. And the smell, Bahamut.
He just thought maybe…just maybe….
M-Maybe he could have just one?
Maybe he won't notice.
Slowly but surely, he faced the cookies.
He caught the aroma of freshly baked gingerbread in his nostrils.
With a mental flick, one of the cookies, a human one floated off the pan.
Towards Marlo's waiting maw.
It was so close.
He wanted to taste that sweet, delicious-
“Marlo!"
The drake of the same name stopped for a second before floating the confection away from him some inches.
“You better not be eating those cookies!"
He heard the footsteps coming from behind him. The jig was up.
John had an ugly sweater that was green all over except when a red ring was wrapped around the four holes in it. He also wore black sweats on his legs with similarly colored socks.
Marlo snaked his head around to his left to look at his mate, a fake hurt look on his face like a kid who was caught eating sugar.
“Awwwww, but John..."
“Don't 'but John' me. Last year when we made those, you nearly ate all of them before we had dinner at all. Save them for after."
John was right in every way. All of that time waiting to feel that sugary and spice-flavored dessert on his tongue last year was wasted for naught when John discovered that there was almost none left for him before they had Christmas and Day of Great Birth dinner. It left him irritated that Marlo would do such a thing as to eat them when this was a tradition of theirs. As such, Marlo promised this year not to gobble them up in one fell swoop.
The drake thought he could get away with it, even if it was just one, but his mate caught him red-handed, or, well, pawed.
The purple dragon turned to face the stove to place the cookie back with a disappointed and saddened look on his face.
John gave a sigh.
He knew Marlo loved the cookies. The only problem with them was that they weren't healthy, like, at all. A few times having to help your mate with horrible stomach aches as a result of eating too much attested to that.
He couldn't see Marlo's face but knew what he felt. Even though he could be playing him like a fiddle like a spoiled child would, he didn't want to see him like this.
He had another sigh that sounded like the human knew he may be making a mistake.
“Fine, you can have one…"
Marlo's eyes instantly widened, his face raised and lightening up. He instantly mentally grabbed the cookie he initially had and rapidly brought it close to his mouth, then…then…
“But..."
The drake now had a somewhat flustered look and faced his mate. What now? He wanted it so bad…
“If you're having one, give me half."
Marlo sighed in relief. It was a compromise, but one he was willing to make. He turned his body around with shuffling of his paws to his mate.
With a simply force of his powers from his mind, he tore the gingerbread man in half at the mid-body. He floated the lower half with the waist and legs to John, who grabbed it with his dexterous right hand. Marlo, with no hesitation whatsoever, flew the upper part with the head and arms to his open maw, feeling it on his taste bud instantly. John, more reserved, slowly raised it to his mouth to take a bite of it.
“Mmmmmmm...", Marlo reverberated throughout his gullet with satisfaction.
It tasted so good.
They were perfect. The taste was amazing, with the spices popping out like firecrackers. That wasn't all, as it was chewy as they snapped their jaws to break it up. It wasn't so hard as to feel like a rock that broke their teeth or too soft as to feel mushy like oatmeal.
However, despite their great enjoyment, it had to end.
With a swallow, the cookie was now in their bellies and into their stomachs. Marlo took his long draconic tongue to like any excess crumbs he may have had on his maw. John just simply swiped his hand over his beard and mustache to brush the crumbs onto the floor.
“Okay, now those were good.", John said. It was true, and John didn't need his mate's mental link to know he felt the same way.
John then leaned on the countertop with his left arm.
He thought to ask the drake a question.
“So…did you call him?", the human asked the psychic dragon.
Marlo knew who he was referring to, as he said he would be the one to call their friend over for at least dinner while John was away to get some of the food in the store.
The drake then walked with his four legs past his mate to get to something on the wall to the left side of the stacked ovens, facing the right side of his face to his mate.
“I've tried to call him five times today and didn't get an answer."
No answer?
Was he somewhere?
Busy perhaps?
Was…
Was he in trouble?
John didn't know whether to be disappointed or worried.
Marlo saw the thing he was looking for. On the aforementioned wall was a old wooden rotary phone with accents of shiny brass. The dial and phone itself were very old-fashioned. While this would and should be useless in many ways compared to today's smartphones, they weren't connected to any line that intertwined with others in where they lived, making it safe for its purpose. On the wood to the right side of the hanging phone and above the dial were several strange symbols that were unknown to the world.
John looked at his mate as he interacted with the rugged device. Hopefully he will answer this time.
With his abilities, the purple drake meticulously and patiently turned the dial to specific numbers to a phone number that was actually worthless on the planet.
After spinning the number, he took the phone off of its carrying hook and floated it to his right ear hole, careful not to pull it too far due to the wire on the end.
BEEEEEEEEEEP.
Come on. Come on.
BEEEEEEEEEEP.
Come on! Just….
Click!
Marlo's eyes widened.
Yes!
“Hello?"
Marlo heard that familiar masculine voice filled with maturity and of a hard-working life. He couldn't help but get a grin hearing his voice once again on the other end of the phone.
“Hi Brian! How are you?", the drake happily greeted the one named Brian.
“Hi Marlo! I'm doing fine, you?"
“Yeah, me and John are doing alright."
A little bit of silence.
“That's good to hear."
He guessed that Brian didn't want to find that the two were invaded or something.
“Hey, where you've been Brian? I've tried to call you nearly half a dozen times today."
A bit of silence followed by a heavy sigh of tiredness reverberated from the other sign of the line.
“Sorry. I've been working on a personal project of mine as of late and my sleep patterns are dogshit."
Ah, a project.
This always stopped the three from coming together sometimes.
And of course, he couldn't even imagine having problems going to sleep...
“So…what's up?"
Marlo's lightened up as he heard the question.
“Oh! We're celebrating Christmas and the Day of Great Birth on the Twenty-fourth. We wanted to know if you wanted to come over for supper."
A bout of silence then flooded the phone. Brian was likely contemplating whether to come or not.
About a minute of nothing until Marlo heard his voice reach his ear holes again.
“Uh, yeah! Sure. I'll come. What time?"
Yes! He was coming. However, Marlo needed to come up with an answer.
Floating the phone in place, he snaked his neck around the wall to see the oven which had a digital clock on it.
Seeing the time, he resumed his last position and held the phone to the side of his skull once more.
“A-About 5:32 at night."
“Okay. I'll be there in a minute or two. See you guys there.", Brian responded.
Click!
He hung up, the voice now silent after Brian called off. With the phone now empty of the voice, Marlo hung it on the hook on the right side of the wood's surface.
The drake then looked happily at his mate, a smile on his maw.
“Well, he's coming!"
John had a light smile on his face. He greatly enjoyed Brian's presence in his home as well.
Then, the two saw a blue light outside that would blind nearly anyone unacclimated to it, along with a booming sound akin to a sonic boom. Still, they had to wince and squint their eyes to see a pointed and circular shape in empty space.
It was a sun, with large needles diagonally and smaller ones vertically to show shines and flames in the hole in the air. Inside was a seemingly endless corridor that went forward to them.
Then, a figure came out of it to land in the snow in their front yard and close to their door that would lead to the kitchen. The wormhole then shrunk itself into nothingness, draping the place once again in darkness.
They saw a bipedal figure walk up to the door until with a sound of the knob turning and door clicking.
They saw him.
He opened the door and walked through, rubbing his dark blue boots on a rub there. He took his right hand in his black, fingerless glove to push back some of his long gold blonde hair over his right shoulder.
He was a figure that was human with a bright blue tunic with a white undershirt underneath. He had similarly bright white colored pants that went to his boots. With a pale face and piercing blue eyes that led to an ocean of hardship and determination, he had several accessories as well. A necklace of a gold-bordered sapphire cross, Bahamut with a blue gem in its breast and diamonds as its eyes, and golden pocket watch with runic symbols on it. There was also a handle to a sword on his left side and a black and oddly shaped pistol on his right, both attached to a belt on his waist. He also lacked his signature cape that usually is behind him, likely to be more casual.
Brian….
The human came to their home one day after seeing and hearing his portal. They confusingly saw the young man barge into their home for a place to hang out.
Obviously, they were a bit defensive, but they were open minded. After introducing himself, they became at least acclimated to his presence.
Marlo sensed something about him. Something otherworldly and unusual. And the feeling from the energy that exuding from the human was…off.
The fact that he couldn't pierce his mind also rubbed him the wrong way. He just saw empty space. He tried to feel his body, but it once again was nothing. He didn't know that Brian secretly wore a special enchanted sapphire amulet that prevented his body being moved by the powers of others and stopped mind manipulation underneath his white tunic until later on.
After knowing that he was a time traveler much to their expected shock, he told them that he was willing to be a friend of theirs if they let him come every now and then.
Then, after coming to a decision away from him privately, they introduced themselves as great friends.
However, much to their surprise and horror in some ways, he knew right away that they were together.
They were just…how?!
How did he find out after knowing them for less than a few hours?
And he said he was…fine?
Anybody, if they were to find out that John and Marlo, a man and drake, were mates, they would likely be revolted right away. The dragon race was very touchy on the subject of homosexuality and having a dragon in the equation made everything much more complex than it had any right to be, and, with the human side of the world right now, it was seen as wrong.
And this person, this anomaly, found out about it in such a tiny span of time and was fine with it?
It simply made no sense.
He explained that he was a time-traveler and that he was surprisingly open about such things. He even admitted that some versions of himself, pointing to one specifically, were like them.
In love with a drake.
On the one hand, the two should be horrified that Brian knew of their secret relationship in a startlingly short amount of time. On the other, he was perfectly accepting of the two like they were ordinary people.
They took the benefit of the doubt and trusted him.
The two had been friends with him ever since.
They greatly enjoyed his presence and personality.
He was very eccentric, always viewing the world in a way unheard of to the entire world, nay, the whole universe. He was wildly intelligent, thinking outside of the box and like a master mathematician in how he handles some things.
However, part of the reason for that was a rather dark and sad one.
He eventually revealed to them his story. Brian was the child of a human woman and a light drake, an extinct species in his timeline. This led him to have power, which he discovered and used for time-travel. After seeing the horrors of both of his peoples, he became a drifter, a person searching for a purpose.
He told them because he trusted them. If anyone were to know about him like a government, he would bring ruin to himself, and anyone associated with him.
They were shocked and saddened.
Brian was a survivor of a horrible time at such a young age. He has been through hell and back and was willing to use his power in the name of justice.
A war of dragons and humans?
It was terrible.
It solidified their friendship further, and they enjoyed being around one another.
They did many things together.
Talking.
Eating.
Watching football or hockey.
Listening to music.
Watching a movie.
Playing video games.
Even hunting.
Telling stories of his travels to unknown and mysterious worlds.
He even expanded their horizons a bit, giving them records of bands like Iron Maiden and Avenged Sevenfold. While some albums, like Avenged Sevenfold's first album was genuinely distasteful due to the excessive screaming and both of their catalogues had many tunes surrounding death, they greatly enjoyed them.
Death was a part of life after all.
And the films he suggested and games he played with them…
Ah, good times.
He was like a shared brother the two never had.
He was a person they could trust fully and talk to if something ever got them down.
However, he wasn't perfect. Nobody was.
Brian always saw everything in grey. His opinions and thoughts about the world were unshakable despite the best efforts of all the people he meant, the mated man and drake being no exceptions. He always argued his point, and, while he was justified given his world view from coming from a war-torn time, they wished he was more open sometimes.
It didn't matter if he thought in a way that was wrong. It was simply impossible to change his mindset.
He was also extremely blunt and brutally honest. If he wished to speak his mind, he would do so. While he hated lying to the point of being physically incapable of it due to seeing it as morally corrupt to do so, Brian never really cared what others thought of him. He even swears casually as if it means nothing in the faces of others.
He was a man who was given extraordinary powers and could probably tear them apart without in the blink of an eye after.
Why would he care what he said if he was one of the most powerful beings in existence?
While they never liked him carrying a sword that can cut them in half with no effort on his part and a firearm that can blow them up in a second, they were quiet about it. Being a person to survive being killed in a planet trying to tear itself apart gave the reason as to why he did so.
It never hurts to be prepared for a threat, invisible or not.
Still, it made them uncomfortable that he always carries his weapons of mass destruction.
That, and…well…
Even Brian admitted that he has horrible tastes.
Dislikes ice cream and other cold food for not sitting well with him.
Despises country, pop, and rap music due to feeling they are “repetitive" and “annoying" lyrically.
Well, to be fair, John and Marlo didn't like them either as they were more into metal.
However, his opinions on films and movies were the worst.
They were awful.
Dear God and Bahamut.
These were quirks that were hard to get used to along with the horrible hot takes, but they couldn't be mad at him. He was the only surviving being with dragon blood in a dark time and universe. He was one whose thoughts and feelings were defined not on what others thought, but his own experiences.
If there was one word to describe Brian, it would be complicated.
There simply wasn't another.
They were willing to let Brian into their nonexistent inner circle regardless of what he thought, because they knew that deep down, Brian was broken beyond repair. He had no family, and the friends close to him were the only ones that he had.
Brian casually walked into the small space going into the kitchen and past the staircase going upwards.
“Well, I made it!", Brian simply said, raising his right open palm in the air for emphasis while doing a jig with his dark metallic boots that did clangs as he did, striking a pose after mindlessly making scratches on the flooring.
However, something was...off about him.
There was something about the way he said it, like he had less energy and patience than usual despite being a living solar battery.
His face also looked a little...disheveled, like tiredness was slowly catching up to him.
And his eyes...
Usually, they shined with brilliance and power, even when they weren't glowing stars, but now, they looked like midway blue void.
While they would be concerned, they didn't dare say anything, both as to not offend him, and the fact that just because he looked drained, he could just as easily explode in fury.
And the last thing either of them wanted is death and destruction incarnate.
But still, they were happy to just see him.
Especially Marlo.
Oof...
The human and drake then walked over to him with grin on their faces, Marlo's face's glowing while John's was simply a light curve on the edge of his mouth. With wide arms, they gave Brian a comrade's hug, John first and then Marlo.
“Nice to see you.", John casually said in greeting to the human light dragon.
They wrapped their hands and paws around him for only a few seconds before letting him go.
After the drake released him, he went with light clops with his boots on the floor to the countertop to lean onto.
“So, how's Silver?"
Ah, Silver…
The intelligent and self-aware automaton was a person they have yet to see. While the two knew about her existence from Brian, they were initially surprised at him having a robotic companion. However, talking about her was incredibly uninteresting.
“Uh, well, she's still learning everything about human and dragon stuff and is still sometimes as boring as sin.", Brian answered, brushing the side of his neck with his right hand as he sheepishly said it.
He was honest in his answer. Sometimes she was rather amusing as to how little she understood mannerisms and ways to act, with some of her responding being bizarre and unheard of to Brian, but other times she was as bland and emotionless as a tree. It even came to the point that she was sometimes outright annoying. Still, it was a learning process for the artificially intelligent machine.
“Oh. Is she not able to come?", Marlo asked their friend.
Despite robots being a scary yet fantasy-filled dream of the future, they were very much interested in actually seeing her.
Brian lightly shook his head.
“No. I need somebody to watch the ship when I'm gone. Besides, she still doesn't understand any of this yet and probably wouldn't."
They both understood. Brian already had problems teaching her very basic interactions and behaviors. Having her learn a holiday, especially one as complex as Christmas, would be a failed attempt from the start. He needed to start small and work his way up with her.
Brian then lit up, smelling the scents of the foods on the countertop, especially the gingerbread cookies.
He asked a question that had them all in high gear to continue the night of celebration.
He lifted his hands, and like two magnets of opposite polarities, slapped them together in a clap.
“So, when are we're going to eat?"
Everything was set up.
The turkey, with all of its pieces, white meat, dark meat, legs, and wings were all separate on a large rectangular pan which sat in the middle of a round table.
The pink ham was in slices on a porcelain plate of an oval shape and a decent size.
There was a bowl filled to the brim with mashed potatoes, seasoned and buttered with smoothness.
Brian loved potatoes.
A small white pitcher was filled with brown gravy to make give the food a different flavor.
In another smaller one bowl was the corning, yellow and steaming hot.
And to top it all off were glasses filled with golden beer.
The three sat at the table, ready to eat. However, they closed their eyes, clasped their hands and paws together, and prayed to God and Bahamut for such a great meal, the presence of friends, the happiness in their lives, and hopes for the new year. After thanking them eternally for this life, the three said “Amen." before digging in.
Brian took a turkey leg, a couple small pieces of ham, a tiny pile of corn, and a whole lot of potatoes. He ate with a thin and straight two-pronged stabbing utensil with a knife and spoon. The two still found it unusual that he would eat with that weird looking fork, even in the context that it was from his time and that he would rather not look like he was shoveling hay among other things in with their silverware. Still, they paid no mind.
Marlo took mostly meat with some potatoes, with mostly dark meat and ham and a bunch of it too. He was a dragon after all. He just took pieces apart or put things in his wide maw whole with his psychic powers.
John was more reserved. He got some white meat with some ham but balanced it out with more potatoes and corn. He used the traditional silverware set of a curved four-pronged fork, spoon, and knife.
They enjoyed themselves. It was a great home-cooked meal.
Brian wiggled a tow-pronged and straight stabbing fork towards the food in great satisfaction.
“Now, this is good. T-Thanks guys."
The two simply nodded their heads in gratitude.
Again with the lack of energy and brightness in his voice...
Still, it was_ _really great.
In the middle of bites and mouthfuls of the delicious meat and vegetables, the three talked about a whole matter of things.
Brian's adventures, John and Marlo's daily lives together, the whole bunch.
“Wait, you met _what _kinds of dragons there?", Marlo asked Brian in response to one of his great and many tales, leaning over to get a louder picture of this great tale being spun.
“They were as big as a, say, uh...about a f_ive to ten story building complex_.", Brian said, using his hands in a vertical fashion to emphasize size in height.
“Y-Yeah, they were huge. They also seemed to think humans are dumb animals or food or something. I mean..."
He stopped speaking for a moment, and neither questioned why for the sake of respect.
Despite John's internal disgust at humans being treated that way with Marlo sensing it in his mate's mind, the drake had curiosity.
“What happened when you went there? Did you, you know…meet them?", Marlo curiously asked.
Brian chewed some dark meat off the turkey leg bone and swallowed before answering.
“Well...uh...there was this blue one that understood at least a little bit. A water dragoness, I-I think. Although, she was shocked I was intelligent, let alone talk. But..."
A sigh.
"...other than that, the place is completely fucked."
Really?
“H-How so?" John asked with great interest about the drake.
Brian gave an annoyed sigh and tipped his head in tired way. The answer wasn't pretty.
“Well, there's a war, because there fucking has to be. It has several sides and factions and I want no part of it. And when I found out it happened because of really stupid reasons, it made me want to stay away from most of them. The world was...uh...interesting though.", Brian replied in a drained and annoyed voice, downing some of his fizzy alcohol into his throat after finishing his sentence.
The two knew Brian didn't really like Dragonkind or Humanity. They had done so much to him and his knowledge of what they could do poisoned his outlook on everything.
Dragons and humans simply could ever learn.
When will they realize that violence and bloodshed isn't the only answer to problems? It was all awful.
They knew Brian tried to make friends, but they either stabbed him in the back, were used as bargaining chips by others, or actually fell in love with him. Despite Brian's silent want for affection, he knew he couldn't stay with those said people, human or dragon. It didn't matter if he felt the same way or not, he had to push them all away to prevent himself from indirectly hurting them from the actions of others. He was also a time traveler. His purpose was elsewhere, not there. It just wasn't meant to be. He left many broken hearts along the way, but that was just the way everything had to go.
It was just the way things are. Brian was more brutally honest than anyone else about it.
John and Marlo were just grateful that they were some exceptions. They were glad that Brian didn't leave them behind.
The two thought to not add anything and end the thread of words from their friend. He deserved it.
They continued eating their holiday supper until their bellies were full.
“You sure you don't want to stay?"
John asked Brian as Marlo began wrapping up the food from the dinner, now finished for the night. They wished that he would stay for time and possibly for early presents.
“Nah. I have a lot of important things to do."
“Not even for presents?", John said, using the lure of gift to keep him over as a last ditch-effort.
However, it failed.
Brian simply waved his left hand.
“No thanks, at least for this year. I'm not interested in material possessions. And if I do need something, I can just buy it. I do have, you know…. money from literally all points in time?"
Well, at least Brian wasn't beating around the bush about it.
John gave a pained sigh. The two enjoyed his presence a whole lot. They treated him like unofficial family after all.
“Well, okay. Know that we'll be here whenever you need us."
It was the best response he could come up with given Brian's background.
“T-Thanks John."
They wrapped their arms around each other, patting the back of the other with their hands before letting go. Marlo came around, clearly done with packing everything in their refrigerator. They did the same, Brian feeling soft yet strong paws on his back and Marlo feeling those surprisingly powerful palms on the base of his neck, letting him go as well.
It was a sad farewell for now, but they had drastically separate lives that couldn't always mix.
The two gazed at him as he approached the door, the two slowly approaching the side of the door to go into the living room.
With Marlo's right paw and John's right hand in the air, they waved him goodbye.
“You be careful out there!", Marlo said as Brian clicked the door open with his right hand into the darkened and snowy night.
“I will! T-Thanks guys! Thanks for the dinner!"
Then, with the sound of the door closing in its frame, he was gone.
'Tis a shame. He just simply had a different outlook on the world.
Brian was always going to be Brian.
Complicated.
The mated couple then went around the back of the couch to the right side of it in order to gain access to those soft cushions.
When John's rump felt the soft and comfy fabric with Marlo's backside, they relaxed.
Then they turned their heads to one another.
The drake's bright blue eyes of the ocean.
The man's green eyes of a great forest.
They just...stared at each other.
After some silence of just...sitting, Marlo spoke up with his maw.
“So…", the purple drake started, catching his mate's attention.
John's green eyes darted to the dragon. Marlo was looking conflicted, his left paw going over the cloth of the sofa.
“Do…you want to do presents tonight?"
They sometimes gave one of the gifts to one another the Christmas Eve, but on many occasions, they wished to do it tomorrow. Still, if his mate was willing, he'd certainly do so. Only one of them could open it, but it was only fair.
“I-I guess? Yeah, sure.", John sheepishly said.
Marlo had a grin on his face.
Yes!
John heard the thought enter his head. The psychic dragon probably got overexcited and screamed out because of his anxiousness to have one of them open their gifts.
John just simply grinned at his mate.
“Alright, you open yours!" Marlo said, hopping off the couch and facing the human still sitting.
“M-Me?", John said in surprise. He thought that Marlo wanted to open his heartfelt present to him.
For the drake, it was an answer he had been holding for some time already.
“Yeah! I opened mine last year on the Twenty-fourth, now it's your turn!"
Dear God…
Did he really forget that?
And how did Marlo remember that?
“Oh. O-Okay...", John responded in a very nervous and sheepish tone.
With that, Marlo floated the large rectangular box wrapped up in Christmas colors.
Right onto his lap.
When Marlo let go of his mental grasp on it, John felt the full weight of it.
Dear Lord, it was heavy!
It almost slipped off of his legs due to his surprise at its weight.
“Oh! S-Sorry!", Marlo apologized. He should have expected the human to not anticipate the heavy gift. With a psychic flick, it returned to John's lap, now balanced.
A huff of calmness washed over the human.
Now it was time.
“Ooooookay..."
Without further ado, John used his strong and dexterous hands to undo the red bow on it and rip apart the wrapping, letting the pieces litter the floor. Marlo had a smile on his face, waiting to see what John felt when he opened his hard-earned gift to treasure.
After about a minute of tearing the very tightly taped and secure wrapping apart, he came across a manufactured black case with white metal lining on where it closed.
John raised a brow. What could this be? It looked very expensive…
He undid the clasps that held the halves together. Marlo was giddy with anticipation.
With a click he opened it.
He gasped.
“Dear God…"
He knew that shape and colors from anywhere.
It was one of the newest high-power sniper rifles meant for hunting. It was dark brown polished wood very close to the color black with darkened metal parts all along it, including the bolt action, which, if this is new, would be nice and easy to pull back and forward with comfort. A large black scope lay on top of it, already slid in.
However, the stock had something special on it.
On the side John opened, the left side of the wooden part to hold and cushion his shoulder from recoil had an image on a large black cover engrained into it like a massive patch.
It was a purple dragon standing on its rear legs with its foreclaws out, its tail hanging behind, its wings splayed out to their full glory, and its mouth open as if to roar.
John slid his fingers over it and felt the hard black part with the image, mouth open wide in surprise.
He always wanted a rifle like this, and Marlo not only got it, but did something special to it for him.
He raised his gaze to Marlo, his beloved mate, who had a smile and sparkling blue eyes, happy that John loved his present.
“H-How'd you...", John asked, dumbfounded.
This was not only expensive, but how did he get that design on there?
John felt the bottom of the rifle as he lifted it from the confines of the case, discarding it on its tall side onto the couch.
“Well, I used quite a lot of the money I earned at work, and…."
John was gawking at the rifle. He looked to the other side and saw the purple dragon image mirrored on the stock's right side.
He then realized that it was Marlo.
“Weeeeeeell…"
John's attention went to his mate as he pulled the gun closer to himself. It also wasn't too heavy or light.
“I may have had to...um...convince him to let me buy it and put the design on it.", Marlo said with great nervousness, looking down at his feet while brushing his right paw over the left, expecting a lecture from his mate.
John narrowed his eyes after hearing him, suspicious.
“D-Did you cheat them?"
Marlo then had an explosive reaction, showing an irritated face.
“W-What? No!"
John flinched.
Marlo then looked down as he suddenly felt ashamed.
He could have easily forced the person to give it to him for a reduced price or even for free with his mental powers, but he didn't.
Even though he expected such a response, Marlo felt bad for snapping at him, feeling like he was ungrateful due to his, um, methods.
“I-I mean, no, I didn't. I know they are rare and expensive, and he had a few of them, and s-so…I-I just wanted to get it for you."
Marlo raised his hurt eyes to the human, whose look instantly softened.
Marlo paid full price for this? It was probably worth an arm and leg.
This…this…
This was amazing. He couldn't believe Marlo got this for him.
“Marlo…"
He then placed the rifle to his right side onto the couch and went up from his seat to hug his mate. Marlo accepted his embrace, placing his right paw on the human's back and nuzzled the left side of shoulder. He closed his eyes to just feel him.
“T-Thanks a bunch..."
After a solid minute of holding each other, John went and turned around to place the case on the couch and open it, to place the gun into it for safekeeping.
Then he stopped.
He looked behind him and saw his happy mate. He darted his eyes from the drake to the left to the tree with a small box underneath.
His gift to Marlo.
John then looked away from both and sighed.
He knew what was in that box, but…
This was special, and he wanted Marlo to feel the same tonight to keep the spirit going.
Marlo then began to feel worried. Why was John feeling this way? Was something wrong?
“What the hell. Let's open yours."
Marlo's eyes and face were then filled with surprise.
John wanted him to open the gift meant for tomorrow?
Still, he had a great happiness grow in his heart from this. A great big smile formed on his maw.
“R-Really?", Marlo asked. He wanted to make sure it was okay to open the present today and not on the Day of Great Birth and Christmas.
John, in response, simply nodded his head to give him permission.
Marlo, giddy with his answer like a child, turned around.
“Wait, let me get it.", John said as he got up towards the tree.
Marlo, not understanding why he wanted to get himself when he could effortlessly float it over to his position, was a bit confused, but was surprisingly okay with his mate getting it for him.
He still had that goofy grin plastered on his maw.
John bent down and picked up the box with his right hand. The thing that held a very important thing to not only him, but Marlo as well.
Standing straight, he walked to the drake, sensing his great excitement.
Then, with his back facing the long sofa, he saw Marlo with his right paw out and upwards, awaiting John to place in it. John, looking at him, gently lowered it and set it onto his soft paw.
It was a small box. It also had a red bow along with colors, but when Marlo looked more into the design, it looked like some container with a thinner and slightly larger lid than the rest of the cube. It barely had any weight in it.
Placing his paw down now substituted with his powers, Marlo slowly undid the bow, John looking at him as he did so. After the purple dragon finished, the ribbon fell onto the floor, now discarded.
Slowly but surely, he lifted the lid and floated it to the front and under the package itself.
What was inside was what the drake wasn't expecting.
Inside was a small grey cylindrical object that appeared to have some slight roundness to it. The very top was a flat circle with the bottom having a copperish coloring with a very bent tip in the shape of an uneven zigzag that looked like it was stabbed into a rock. Behind it was a cushion that held a thin silver chain of great length connected into a hollow hole in the top on the left and right sides.
Marlo was filled with confusion. What was this? Was….
Oh.
Marlo then realized what it was.
It was a bullet.
A sniper round without its casing in fact.
Suddenly, he had concern interlaced with his lack of comprehension of it.
He raised his bright blue eyes to John's green ones.
“J-John, w-what is this?"
Marlo didn't want to seem ungrateful. He just…didn't understand this.
Why did John gift him a bullet?
Now the drake felt rather worried.
John then looked away, turning away from his mate's face.
He expected Marlo to react like this, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat hurt.
“You really don't know?", John asked.
That added even more confusion to the lack of processing as to the point of this was.
Marlo couldn't figure it out. Was it obvious as to what it was?
Upon darting his gaze to the drake's baffled ones showed that Marlo indeed didn't know.
John gave a pained sigh as he continued facing the wall to the left of him, returning his look to there as well.
There was an answer that was clear. It was the only one. He was just hurt that his own mate didn't know what it was.
“I-It..."
John stopped.
He hoped for a second that his mate would figure it out, only to see that his face of concern, worry, and sheer confusion, meaning that he couldn't see it.
Another horribly pained huff of a sigh.
“It…It was the bullet that got you into my backyard."
Marlo's eyes slowly widened as wide as dinner plates as his mate said that. His maw went wide open.
N-No…
It…Could it be?
It was...
It was...
Memories came back.
A pain unlike any other like the great fire of Bahamut himself.
In his leg and his wing joint.
Falling…
Falling…
Falling…
Hitting the ground.
Body going into shock.
He couldn't roar. He was in so much agony, especially in his paralyzed leg.
Hands around him as his body felt like it was being set aflame from the inside.
Carrying him on and on…
He couldn't do anything.
Feeling his back touch a flat surface.
Feeling a thick cloth being tied to the back of his skull and in between his teeth, gagging him.
Hearing splashes of water and the clanging of metal.
Hearing a voice.
Then, the fire in his leg exploded.
He felt true agony as he felt something thin go into his rapidly bleeding left foreleg knee cap.
He tried to roar at the top of his lungs but couldn't with the cloth.
After what felt like forever, he felt a space become open in his shattered bone.
He then heard a clink in a ceramic bowl.
Covered completely in the drake's blood was a sniper round from a poacher trying to kill him to take his scales, horns, claws, and everything else.
Marlo realized.
It was the very thing that led him to crash here all those years ago.
Right to his soulmate.
Marlo then looked down at his left foreleg. There was a large vertical scar over his kneecap of the horrible injury. Instinctually, he took his right paw and slid it along the joint, feeling the once-ruined tissue now marked with the rupture of his skin and scales from nearly a decade ago.
Placing his right leg in the spot it was before and looking upwards to nothing in particular.
“Y-You...Y-Y-You..."
John slowly faced Marlo, now seeing that he understood it, a thin line on his mouth.
Marlo had complete shock on his face.
J-John…h-he...
“Y-You…k-kept it?", Marlo softly asked like he was having a revelation that would define his life.
John simply looked at his mate with an answer prepared.
“I actually thought about getting rid of it back then. But I had a feeling that maybe...just maybe I should keep it. We get those feelings every now and then, y'know?"
Marlo couldn't believe it.
John got him a necklace of the bullet that led him to meet his future mate, the one he would spend the rest of his life with lovingly.
He moved his face to the human's. He then gained a look that felt like his heart was crushed into several pieces, not by others, but by himself. He didn't see the true value of what sat in front of him and felt incredible shame for not noticing the truly heartfelt gift that was one of the most important reasons why they were mates in the first place. Marlo also got John a gun.
A gun.
A weapon meant just for killing deer and game with. While that happened, John got him possibly the most genuine and sentimental gift anyone could give.
It was one filled with love, and he didn't see it.
Marlo floated the box towards himself while he held it with his right paw. Then, he looked down at his paws in incredible sadness and sorrow, both of happiness and of a mistake he committed like a sin against Bahamut. He felt like there was a lead weight in his stomach.
He sniffled.
Tears started to flood his eyes.
They glided over his snout and onto the bottom of his lower jaw before splashing onto the floor.
John, seeing his mate like this, sought to comfort him, a light and sad smile on his face. He took his right hand and felt the maw of his mate. With a swipe of his thumb across the side of his face under his eyes to wipe away Marlo's tears, leading the drake to move his side to his palm.
“Hey now. Don't cry on me…", John said softly to his mate to comfort him. Marlo opened his eyes to John's and sniffled again.
He then moved his face upwards to the right and breathed heavily, his body shaking.
“I-I'm sorry..."
It was of both Marlo's horrible, horrible error and crying to begin with. Dragons were prideful and meant to be strong after all.
“Marlo…", the human called out his name to get his attention and to make him feel better.
“I-It's just…", Marlo started but didn't finish from another sniffle.
John listened intently.
“I-I got you a sniper rifle while you gave me this.", Marlo said with a shaky voice due to being choked up on his own salty tears.
Now John felt bad. Did Marlo feel like he didn't get him a good gift?
“Hey now. I've been wanting this for a long time, and you did something special and personal to it. That's all that I could ask for."
Marlo, somewhat cheered up, looked at his mate, box still in his paw.
“Here, let me…"
John took the box and took the necklace out of it, discarding the container to the side. With some effort, he spread his fingers to create a hole for the psychic dragon's neck. Then, without further ado, he slid it over his face and over his horns, the golden ring on his left one another symbol of their love.
Then, he let go to look at the purple drake.
Marlo looked at the base of his neck, seeing the crooked bullet facing downwards. With his right paw, he took it into the soft flesh on it, feeling the cool metal that was once in his leg.
Within the span of a second, Marlo jumped up onto his hind legs and grabbed the shoulders of John, shoving him into his chest plates.
He hugged him with all his strength, his paws and wings holding the human to his chest, never wanting to let go as a few stray tears slipped past his closed eyelids. John, surprised but knowing where Marlo was coming from, took his arms to feel the back of his mate's neck.
T-Thank you…
John heard it in his head. He knew he meant it.
About five minutes passed of the two hugging together. After that, they move from one another, facing their mate.
They saw them.
The eyes…
The sparkling blue ones.
The dark green ones.
Then…
Barely a moment's notice before Marlo darted his maw to the human's.
He kissed him.
John accepted him fully, even when Marlo pushed his back onto the hardwood floor.
John had his arms around the drake's neck, while Marlo's forepaws were on either side above the human's shoulders on the floor.
They continued smooching one another, tasting some remnants of Christmas supper, alcohol, and of course, the gingerbread cookies.
Their tongues danced with one another as they felt each other intimately, their jaws shifting to hold onto one another.
However, they had to break it to get some air into their lungs. After a solid minute of the kiss, they broke it, fast breaths coming from them to get oxygen and a line of saliva breaking between them.
They then looked at one another.
A man with his drake and a drake with his man.
“I love you, more than you know.", Marlo said to the one he cared about most in this world.
John gained a slight smile and slid his right hand to the side of the purple-scaled dragon's maw.
“I do know."
Then, Marlo plunged his face to the human's once more, initiating another kiss.
Ah. It was so nice.
John, with his face and lips against Marlo's pushed himself onto the couch, which Marlo lightly jostled him onto.
With the back of his head on a pillow on the left end of the couch under an armrest and close to the wall, the two continued to kiss one another.
After a minute, they broke it, a huff of air coming out.
Ah, it was amazing. All of it.
And yet, a lot has just happened in such a short span of time.
Still, that time was filled with great joy, like the holidays should generate.
Marlo then laid his head on John's body, his lower jaw sitting on his chest and his body covering his lower half and most of the rest of the sofa.
They just looked each other in the eyes.
They were beautiful.
John felt then slipped his right hand to behind Marlo's head, using his dexterous hands to feel his mate's horns.
No creature should ever touch a dragon's horns, as they see it as a sign of disrespect and find it offensive. Only their mate may do such a thing.
As such, Marlo welcomed and enjoyed the touch.
They just laid there, the bright blue eyes of the drake staring into the dark green eyes of the human.
Ah…
This was beautiful.
They just felt the other, Marlo feeling the lower body to the chest of his mate, and John lightly feeling the scales on the purple dragon's neck and head, touching those sacred horns.
Then, they realized.
A _lot _happened tonight and they felt a smidge of tiredness.
As if everything, the food, the emotions, or even Brian's bizarre behaviors wanted them to, they felt weights on their eye lids, sleep wanting them to doze off for the night.
That and...well...they just felt so _comfortable _against each other, their hearts fluttering with love, peace, and serenity.
Barely a few seconds passed when the two loving mates slept off into the realm of dreams, both in the embrace and the sounds of a crackling fireplace.
Morning light was slowly coming in from the windows on the right wall from the door.
Still, grey clouds covered the sky with the gentle ice crystals of snowflakes falling slowly to the ground to join others like it.
The room gave off a light blue hue from the distorted light of a heavily covered Sun.
Away from a door on the left side of a wall onto the wall to the opposite side in the middle was a large queen bed with white sheets and blankets, its head and footboards a blackened and polished wood.
Inside those said blankets were the man and drake, Marlo on the left side with his body on its side, both it and his face's closed eyes facing his mate and John facing upwards towards the ceiling with sleeping eyes as well.
One of them must have woken up and noticed it was late, likely dragging the other to the bed to somewhere more comfortable to sleep or they both became awake and moved to the softer bed and promptly forgot about moving in the late night or early morning at all.
Regardless, it didn't matter. They were asleep, minds dancing in fantasy land in the realm of dreams.
That is, until John started shuffling.
He was awaking, feeling the soft blankets and even softer bed under him.
“Uhhhhhhhhgghhhmmmmmmm...", John groaned softly as he shifted around, his eyes still shut.
Upon noticing that his eyes didn't see complete darkness anymore, he assumed that there was light. Light meant that it was morning.
Christmas and Day of Great Birth morning.
Slowly but surely, he gained agency and slowly opened his eyes, his hands moving to them to rub the sleep out of them.
He then let out a yawn before involuntarily stretching his body, arms, and legs while covered by the blankets.
Then he noticed he wasn't wearing his ugly sweater.
In fact, his upper body was bare.
His well-toned and muscled chest was uncovered. Either he or Marlo must've taken it off him before moving their rest here.
He wouldn't want to sweat up a storm wearing long sleeves after all.
He then rested his head on his pillow on the right side of the bed, taking a deep breath and feeling his spinal column awaken after hours of sleeping with his mate.
Then, he heard him.
Marlo moved the side of his head from the pillow, seeing brightness behind his eye lids. This likely signaled his body to start waking up after a long and relaxing slumber.
“Hhhhhhmmmmmmm...", Marlo let out a draconic groan as his whole body, tail, scales, wings, paws, and all started to reawaken.
John shifted his head to his left to his mate, who let out a huge dragon yawn, showcasing his large mouth and sharp teeth before making a clicking sound with his jaws in the confines of it and shifting his tongue around involuntarily. His head then rested on the pillow once again on the left side, facing the human with closed eyes.
Then, he slowly opened them, seeing his mate's forest green ones. The drake couldn't help but gain a light if tired smile.
“Merry Christmas.", Marlo said to the human, happy to see him up as well.
John shifted his head to its side to face the purple dragon.
He also gained a small grin as well.
“Happy Day of Great Birth.", John very quietly said, like a whisper.
Marlo felt his heart beating faster in his chest.
He loved him. He wouldn't have it any other way.
After his mate's morning greeting, the drake did something John didn't expect.
In a split second, Marlo took the tip of his long draconic tongue and, with a speed faster than John could react to, slid it up the left side of his face before retracting his maw from cheekbone.
John simply felt the moist appendage on his face. Marlo sometimes did this in good tidings and in affection. And, given the fact that he needed a wake up call, it was something he was perfectly fine with.
“Hhhmmm...", John made the sound of his close feelings of the drake, although it was sounding a lot like a very drained and quiet chuckle.
After that, they looked at each other.
Ah, this again.
They couldn't get enough of looking into the other's eyes.
So beautiful.
Then, without any input, they slowly moved their foreheads together. Barely a second later, John felt the scales on the drake's head while the Marlo pushed his against the soft skin of the human's.
The sign of draconic love and compassion.
So, so nice….
They held it there for about a minute.
The two realized that maybe they should get out of bed and cook up some Christmas and Day of Great Birth breakfast.
They broke the act. Marlo then slipped out of the bed, sliding his wings and tail all tangled up in the fabrics of the blankets, his paws eventually reaching the floor gracefully. John took his right hand and pulled the covers off of himself, effortlessly moving his pelvis off the side of the huge bed, his feet covered in socks feeling the wooded floor of their bedroom. Marlo walked over to the door to the living room, his paws making light sounds off the polished floor.
John, upon realizing that he would rather have a shirt on, looked for something to wear on his upper half. He then saw his previously discarded ugly sweater on a chair on his side's wall. With a sigh, he picked it up and began to put it on. Marlo slipped into the doorway after silently opening into the main living room, disappearing behind a door slowly closing itself with a creak. The human slid the multicolored holiday long sleeve on himself, sliding his arms and head through the designated holes.
He then walked towards the way out of the room to meet his mate and conjure up a morning meal for them.
His hand went to the long-handled knob of dark gold with his right hand and pulled backwards to walk to the kitchen.
However, he stopped.
He saw Marlo standing near the doorway and partially in the middle of the room. He was as still as a statue, his body facing and eyes staring to the right at something.
John, seeing his mate freeze up like this, became concerned. He slipped past the closing entrance and silently walked up to him to see what he was doing. When he did catch up to him, John faced where the drake moved his gaze to.
He saw the same thing Marlo did.
Underneath the tree, now with the lights off, was a singular small white box with a lid and no wrapping at all with a bright blue ribbon on it.
They were both utterly confused.
“D-Do you remember that being there John?", Marlo asked his mate also in the dark like him.
No, John didn't recall ever seeing that box there. It was smaller than the one he gave the drake to last night. Did he not see it by mistake yesterday? Was it just so hidden? No, that couldn't be it. It stood out like a sore thumb with its bright colors.
Just...what?
“Mmmm-mmm.", John simply sounded in a way to say “no" without words.
Marlo was baffled. He didn't notice the box there before with his psychic powers. Almost nothing gets past that. If it was matter, solid or not, he could feel it. What…
What the hell was going on?
Marlo slowly shuffled towards it and into the room, his mate walking with him. With a flick of his powers, he floated it to John's open hand, likely wishing to examine it further.
It was just a plain white box with a bright blue bow on it.
John, feeling the container, found a small light brown tag on the top, shifting his dexterous fingers, he left the name side to his gaze and his eyes widened with Marlo as he also found what made John feel the same.
Written in printed and cursive written black word was the answer.
From: Brian
Brian?
He left a gift here and they didn't notice it? They shifted their faces to one another, clearly surprised.
Did he slip it under there without them noticing? Did he come back later during the night when they both dozed off on the couch and or the bed? And how in the name of Bahamut did Marlo not feel him putting it there?
Then there was the question of what was actually inside. While the two occasionally asked for something from Brian every now and then likely for curiosity sakes, especially the new Metallica album 72 Seasons coming out next year, even they had no hopes for such a thing when Brian would want to do anything other than to go to the future and possibly mess up the timeline somehow or some other rule unknown to them. And the box was very small. What could possibly be inside?
With extreme caution and carefulness, John, with his left hand on the bottom of the container, took his fingers through the loop in the ribbon to untie it, eventually leading it to fall to the floor. He then slipped off the lid and moved to under his left on holding the box itself.
Inside, on black plush, was a small grey and horizontally rectangular device with a singular button on the bottom. On the top part was what looked like a small screen.
John knew what it was right away.
“A-A pager?", John asked, confused and dumbfounded at what their friend gave them with his mouth a little wide open.
Marlo, however, had a completely different question than John was expecting.
“U-Um...w-what's a pager?", Marlo asked like a child in school with concern.
It was probably one of the things he had yet to learn about in the human world. In some ways, it was a term so insignificant to them that there wasn't a reason to learn it and the word likely eluded them even after all this time.
John gave a sigh after his own mate revealed he didn't know what it meant.
“I-It's, how do I put it...", the human said, trying to think of an analogy for the clueless drake.
Marlo was looking intently, his body filling with anxiousness at all of this.
“It's like a cell phone. It gives off a signal to somewhere, and that is perceived as something, like a beacon or something.", John explained.
Marlo simply looked at it. A device that was like a call, but with just a sign, like a beep perhaps, over to someplace unknown.
Still, why did Brian give them a pager?
Marlo lifted the device up to observe it. John then saw a small piece of brown cardboard bright enough to see black on it. It had a blank side facing him. Marlo turned the device around and found a few runic symbols on it.
One or two of them seemed a bit familiar….
With his right hand, the human picked up the material and turned it around.
His eyes widened to an almost excessive degree. Marlo noticed John's reaction as well and looked where he was, eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets.
In cursive black lettering were two words that showed the gift's purpose and made their hearts stop.
Emergencies only