Thea

Teolix had basically become the saint of humility. He was still a little arrogant, but he was also still a dragon, so it felt unfair to compare him to other mortals.

He also talked a little funny, and I had been a little disappointed that his dragon form was so small, but he was likely pretty young. It was probably only his second or third century, so he still had a while to grow out of his silly accent.

Although that meant that I still needed to find an actually fully grown dragon to test my fire out, but that wasn’t too big of a deal. Besides, Bryce seemed to enjoy herself and that was enough for now. She really seemed to be in her element, negotiating with Teolix.

I had noticed a drastic improvement in Bryce’s mood after I helped with her hair. It wasn’t a cure for the trauma, but it had helped her relax.

If helping her relax meant that I got to play with her beautiful curls, then I guessed I would just have to suffer. I really was quite the martyr. The kiss had also been pretty nice.

I wasn’t sure if I was falling in love with Bryce, but I wasn’t opposed to the idea. At least, I was confident enough with her mental state that I was willing to push my luck.

I still didn’t plan on letting my guard down around her, but I was really feeling like she would get through this without too much lasting damage.

Bryce and Teolix must have finished working out the details, because they shook hands, and he left.

“Please tell me you got your money back,” I said. “Because I'm starving, and you still owe me a meal.”

Bryce’s stomach seemed to agree with me because it growled way louder than Teolix had been capable of, even out of his human form.

The red flush that peeked through her dark complexion made her look so freaking adorable. I nearly completely forgot about food in favor of a different kind of hunger.

The look on my face must have given away my intention, because when I took a step closer, she held out her hands to placate me.

“Later, okay? We need to get some actual food. The navigator, Sora, works the night shift at a bar near the inner city, and we can order something while we talk with them.”

I crossed my arms and pouted. It made sense. Most of Bryce’s plans seemed to, but they were also a lot less fun.

“Okay fine, but I plan on getting a lot.” I started walking towards the exit before adding over my shoulder. “And I’m not just talking about food.”

“Thea! Wait!”

I quickly spun around expectantly, only to see that Bryce was looking away, and the blush had climbed all the way to the tips of her ears. I smiled at her. “Change your mind? I promise I can make it quick.”

“No, no Thea, it’s not that, your hole.” She indicated towards my legs but refused to look at me, and it seemed like she was having trouble completing the thought. I was confused.

“My hole? Princess, you are not good at dirty talk, and I am getting mixed signals here.”

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“Dirty talk? What are you talking about?” Bryce stopped looking embarrassed exactly long enough to come to some sort of realization, then she turned the dial all the way past embarrassed to mortified and started sputtering a stream of semi-comprehensible thought instead of explaining. “Nonononono, you and Teolix, your outfit, all the fire and the burning, just walking around outside. Thea, you cannot leave.”

I gently walked up to Bryce and placed my hand on her shoulder, which just seemed to make the whole damn thing worse.

“Bryce, I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here. Just take a breath and explain what’s going on.”

She was holding her temples in her right hand and still refused to look me in the eye, but she took a breath and slowly explained.

“Thea, the dragon fire ruined your entire outfit. It only burnt a few holes in your jacket, but it destroyed your pants.” she paused for another breath. “And your underwear.”

What was Bryce talking about? I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

I looked down at the remains of my clothing. I had burnt the sleeve off of my jacket and there were a few more holes where Teolix had actually made it past the material’s innate fire resistance. Which was fine, I could have the jacket repaired easily enough, but my pants were a complete loss. At that point they looked like a belt with a few weird burnt denim straps hanging off. And I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Oh, I see. I’ll be right back.” I stiffly walked to the closest pile of intact boxes.

I hadn’t packed my entire wardrobe just to go to a casino in Hades, and I really only had the one backup outfit, which meant that I was going to have to wear the black dress again. It didn’t smell. Well, not that bad, and I kind of liked the aesthetic that the dried blood and burnt hems were giving off.

Okay, it wasn’t great. Actually, it was pretty terrible, but it covered my bits enough that I could walk around in public without getting arrested, and that’s all I needed.

My boots had been made of the same hound leather as my jacket, which meant they fared about the same. While not ideal, they were much better than Ava’s old shoes, which were too big.

I stepped back out into the open to see that Bryce had turned her back to the boxes to give me privacy while I changed.

“All done, I’m decent again!”

I raised my hands above my head and twirled in my dress to prove my decency. Bryce smiled, but it didn’t fully reach her eyes. She still had a hint of a blush, and she didn’t seem fully convinced by my outfit.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry I reacted the way that I did.” Her smile grew but became self-deprecating. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting the view.”

“Yeah, I bet.” I snorted. “I hadn’t intended to put it all on display, especially not for Teolix. He is absolutely not my type, and I don’t put out after just one attempted murder.”

Bryce laughed, and her smile finally turned genuine.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Teolix didn’t seem like the type of dragon that gets distracted by the lesser races.” Bryce smiled as she continued, “It sounded like he was interested in expanding his operations off world and off the record so I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear from him again.”

I wasn’t opposed to working with Teolix. He had mentioned a rematch with a wager, and I kind of liked the idea of taking more of his stuff.

“I don’t mind. We should probably get going though, I’m starving,” I answered while walking towards the exit, but Bryce stopped me again.

“Here, put this on. It should cover most of the blood and burnt fabric.” She had taken off her red jacket and was offering it to me.

She must have somehow made the gray tank top and cargo pants work, because my heart was racing to tell me that I was pretty into it.

I gently took the jacket after spending just enough time staring to make it awkward, and I mumbled a thanks as I put it on.

The jacket had been comfortably large on Bryce, and she was a lot taller than me. I was swimming in the thing.

I didn’t mind, though. It was warm and comfortable and kind of smelled like her, but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

Well, okay, maybe it was a bit of a creepy stalker kind of way. But I hadn’t stolen it or anything, so I was pretty sure I was still in the clear.

“Thea, are you coming?”

The reminder of food pulled me out of my hormone induced daze and I raced to catch up to Bryce as she exited.