Path woke up first. She sat up in the bed, it was only just after dawn, based on the gray light. There were sounds of people moving around, banging and clanging, shouting. She peered out of the window and saw that the noises she was hearing were construction sounds. I feel a little guilty now; I guess I did not really care at the time what inconvenience it would cause them because I was so mad about that other dragon.

She came back to the bed and sat on the edge of it, looking down at Dainin. He was sleeping with his mouth open, on his back, one arm and leg out a bit, the other arm over his chest. Two nights ago? You wanted to kill me in my sleep. She put her hand up, touching the ridge of scars on her neck. That healing worked really well, she thought, feeling along to find a scab, but it was just scarred now. It felt like lifetimes ago that she had fought him. I told you not to sleep in front of me.

But as she watched him sleeping, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything to him. I guess I am growing a little soft toward him despite everything. She rubbed at the amethyst ring still stuck around her thumb, it shifted like a normal ring; she could spin it around, but as she tried once more to pull it off, it stuck. I guess even though I do not want to admit it, I did bring this on myself.

She did not pray to Mysteera though. She was still upset at the Goddess for cursing her and then sticking this paladin to her. She huffed.

That gold dragon is still alive, and my hoard has been unattended for a while. I want to go home. Her stomach growled. And I’m hungry. This body likes to eat a lot more often, she huffed.

She started to nudge his leg with her toe.

He rolled over, and she huffed. She was getting cold without the blanket, and her feet were especially feeling chilled. The blanket was just barely touching the floor now that his back was to her. She lifted the edge of the blanket with her toe and slid her foot beneath, placing the toes and pad of her foot on the center of his lower back.

“Ugh, eech,” he convulsed as he came to life, jerking away from her toes. “Path!”

She grinned as he looked at her.

He jerked his eyes away, “Clothes, cover-up,” he said flopping back against his pillow. “It’s not even really morning yet.”

“So? I want to go home. I am awake now.”

“Path,” he whined, pulling the blanket up over his face. “I stayed up all night getting you to a healer, no one is awake at this hour.”

“I hear work going on. I see people moving around.”

“Go back to sleep.”

She was a little glad to see him flustered. He had spent the whole day yesterday teasing her. He sighed and seemed to be inclined to go back to sleep. She waited a few moments, his breath getting somewhat regular. She found the edge of the blanket with her toes and pressed the cold digits and pad of her foot to his side.

A similar result, involuntary noise, and he scooted to the side and nearly off his bedding. “Goddess confound you,” he muttered a grouchy curse.

“I am also hungry. I thought it was your job to take care of me.” Since he did not sit up, she just slid mostly off the bed, stretching her leg out as she put her weight against her lower back and her other foot, and shoved her foot back under the blanket and against his side.

“Ugh,” he grabbed her ankle, and he started to tug her forward. She squeaked as she felt herself near losing her balance, but at the sound, he stopped, his grip relaxed. “All right. I am up, you are right.” He sighed.

She squirmed her way back onto the bed and pulled the covers around herself. “I did not used to get cold when I was a dragon,” she pointed out.

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“You also would not fit in an inn,” he grumbled, sitting up and reaching for a shirt and putting it on. He still had pants on. He looked at her with a hint of a sulk. He had dark color under his eyes. “Let’s get you dressed.” He tried not to look at her too much as he brought over a wrapped object and set it down. “Have a look.”

She unraveled the ribbon, the fabric inside was soft. She ran her hand over it, it tingled a little against her hand.

“That is called velvet. What I was wearing was rough linen and the skirt you had on was a wool, which is even rougher. The green belt and the lining on the arms is a green silk.” The silk slid against her fingers as she touched it. “So let us get you dressed.”

It was pretty. The silk had a soft sheen to it. The velvet almost seemed like it sparkled. “All right,” she said.

He smiled. She huffed. She liked it a little better when she was terrorizing him and not feeling guided by him. “Hands up over your head,” he said. She did and he slid the dress down over her body. Then he had her stand while he laced up the back and did up the bright green belt in a bow at her back. It fit her body well, and was a few inches off the ground. It felt soft, but warm. “I can see that you like it.”

“I do not,” she said automatically.

He smiled.

She scowled.

He went to his bag and got a wooden thing with lots of evenly sized… they looked like teeth, maybe? “This is a comb. It is for hair. You use it like this,” he said, showing her by combing his own hair. It had been a little wild before, ends sticking out every which way, but when he worked the comb through it, it lay smooth again.

He handed it to her. She tried to mimic him, but it felt awkward in her hand. It hung up in her hair, and then trying to pull it free tangled it. I hate this body.

***

Dainin watched her struggle. A dragon in a human body. She is about as skilled at being a human as a child.

He guided her to sit down again on the bed and put her feet up. He sat down behind her, and carefully worked the comb out of her long hair. “Let me help.”

“I do not want your help,” she sulked.

“I know,” he said with a smile, but he did not push it. He could imagine being ashamed in her position. “I will get us breakfast and go to the temple. Do you want to come or stay here?”

“I do not want to go to the temple,” she grumped.

“You want to be here all by yourself?”

“Maybe I will run away.”

“That’s fine, I can find you. Plus your bare feet will not get you too far,” he said, combing the bottom inches of her hair and then working his way up, like he was working tangles out of Oberon’s mane.

She huffed.

There was, for a moment, a temptation to just put his arms around her and squeeze her until she squeaked. He was not sure if it was because she was a brat and he wanted to take her down a little, or if it was because she was so adamantly wild and he wanted to press some of it out of her, like a feral cat. He kept brushing her hair. “After you stay here alone, I will come back, and we will go back to your cave?” he offered.

“Yes, I want to go home. You should skip the temple.”

“I am going to report back. Also, I was thinking, we should see if we can seal your cave.”

“Why?”

“Because right now you are not a dragon.”

“I am a dragon.”

“You know what I mean,” he said, combing more of her hair. There was silence, she was tilting her head a little, as if leaning a little into the brushing that was detangling her hair and finding it pleasant after all. “You are spending time as a human. What good will it do to sit around on a good pile in a cave?”

She huffed, “The same good it always does. It stays mine. Besides, other than swimming and eating, what else would I do?”

It sounds terribly lonely, he thought. He continued to gently brush. “Just consider it. There are lots of things you can do. I will have lots of things to do. I have traveled all over this continent for Mysteera.”

“I do not want to help Her,” grouchy tone.

“I understand,” he said gently, “but it is what I do for a living. Just think about the sealing up the cave, all right? Maybe you will see cool things as we travel and find new interesting shiny things for your hoard.”

“I will not like them.”

He took a deep breath in, restraining a second desire to just squish her to him and squeeze that brattiness out. “So you say,” he said mildly. He finished combing her hair. “There you go. I will have some food sent up, and I will go to the temple now. That way we can leave sooner to go to your cave.”

She huffed. There was silence as he dressed. She watched him. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said with a smile. “Someone will knock on the door to bring you breakfast, all right? I will be back as soon as I can.”