When Caldor woke up, he almost yelped in surprise when he saw the golden wing stretched out around him protectively. As everything came flooding back to him, he craned his neck to look back at Idri's peaceful, sleeping face.

Cal felt his heart give a happy stutter. The only thing ruining this was how sore he felt, and the hangover currently pounding in his brain, but that would go away eventually. It was hard being properly annoyed by it with Idri's arms around him. Though some of the bites Idri had given him did sting a bit. Especially the one in the place between his neck and shoulder. He would have to tell Idri to try to tone that down next time. Not that Caldor didn't like a bit of rough play, apparently, but he couldn't heal that fast.

He carefully reached over to the bite, trying not to wake Idri. He immediately ended up grimacing in pain as he touched it. It felt deeper than the others and judging by the rough surface of the wound, there seemed to be dried blood all around it.

Caldor tried to remember Idri giving this to him, even as his headache spiked from his cognitive efforts, but he couldn't. But then, the entirety of last night felt like a bit of a blur. Not that it mattered to him—he remembered the important parts, and that was good enough.

He let his eyes close again, relaxing in Idri's embrace. Cal knew they had a long talk in front of them—at least he assumed, it was a bit difficult to predict Idri sometimes—but for now he was determined to enjoy the simple joy of cuddling with...his mate. That term would take some time to get used to.

But just as he was about to drift off into sleep once more, a shocked cry brought him back to full wakefulness.

His eyes snapping open again, Cal turned over to immediately check on Idri, only to find the dragon looking at him with horror from where he was kneeling on the bed, as far away from Caldor as possible. For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, neither of them speaking or moving, but this didn't feel like the other times this had happened. There was something awful in the dragon's eyes—a profound kind of fear that made Cal's stomach turn.

But somehow he felt even worse once the dragon looked away and got off the bed, turning his back on Cal as he hastily tidied up his robes to cover himself up properly. Cal swallowed thickly as he noticed that Idri's wings were shaking where they were firmly pressed against his back.

"What's wrong?" Cal asked as he also got up and quickly started to dress himself, having suddenly become uncomfortably aware that he was still naked. The bite stung with every movement of his arm, but Caldor could barely feel the pain at that moment. All he could focus on was Idri, whose back was still turned towards him, leaning with one hand onto the wall. "Are you okay, Idri?"

"Idriseth," he said, his voice soft and emotionless.

Cal blinked. "What?"

The dragon huffed, turning around to face Caldor. And the man almost flinched when he saw the cold expression Idri was wearing. He looked the same as when they'd first met in the fort's dungeon. Caldor hadn't realized it then, but now, in comparison to the usually gentle, curious looks Idri tended to give him, it was shocking how stark the contrast was.

"My name is Idriseth," he said as if he was telling Caldor that for the first time. And all Cal could do in reply was stare at him dumbly in confusion. Idri hadn't minded the nickname before, so why was it a problem all of a sudden? Had it been a problem all this time and the dragon just hadn't said anything? "And I think you'd best leave."

"What?" Caldor exclaimed, feeling almost sick now. What the hell was going on? He didn't think he'd ever felt this confused in his life. "Why?"

Idri didn't give him an answer. He just kept staring at him with that cold look that made Caldor's heart hurt. Had he insulted Idri somehow? He didn't think so, but then he had been fairly drunk.

Something in Idri's eyes changed, then, though, sorrow flashing through them as he looked in the direction of Caldor's shoulder instead. The man followed the dragon's gaze, realizing that Idri had to be looking at the bite mark, which was too close to his neck to be completely covered up by his tunic.

But this lasted only for a moment. A second later Idri glared again, almost making Cal flinch under its intensity. "Leave."

"But—"

"And do not follow me," Idri cut in, not letting Caldor speak at all as he turned away and marched out of the room, leaving the human alone in his bedroom in stunned silence.

What had just happened? Cal's head was spinning. He needed to sit down for a moment, but one look at the unmade bed immediately discouraged him from it. And looking over at the table, and the half-drunk bottle on it made his stomach turn as well.

He found himself walking out of the room, instead, his mind in a haze as he began heading down the stone steps as far as they went. He didn't stop until he reached the bottom of the stairs. And that was the moment all of his energy left his body.

He all but collapsed onto one of the steps, running his hands over his face. Why had Idri kicked him out? What had Caldor done to all of a sudden make the dragon change his mind so dramatically? Idri had told him he was afraid of Cal leaving, hadn't he? So why was he the one to tell him to leave now?

The only thing that had changed between them that Cal could think of was the most obvious one—they'd slept together. But why would that be a bad thing? Idri had been the one to initiate that, right? And he'd taken a very...active role in it. So he'd been all for it.

Except...that was when he had been drunk.

Caldor's stomach churned as horror filled his heart. What if Idri hadn't actually wanted this with him, but he'd just been too lonely and drunk to resist? Getting drunk had been Caldor's idea, so if this were the case, it would make perfect sense Idri was angry with him. And it would be more than deserved.

Caldor put a hand over his mouth as he felt bile rising in his throat. He didn't want to think this theory was right, but it was the only thing he could think of that made any kind of sense.

Oh gods. This wasn't what he'd wanted at all. He'd just wanted Idri to relax and be happy for a bit. And clearly he'd failed since Idri was now more upset than ever.

Groaning, Caldor rubbed his eyes. He needed to apologize. Assuming that Idri would even let him. He would have to wait around a bit, though, because there was no chance the dragon would willingly talk to him right now. Cal had to try, though. He hadn't meant for any of that to happen, and he didn't want to be the reason Idri was angry. That was the last thing he wanted.

And...Caldor also didn't want to leave. He would if Idri really wanted him to, of course, but he didn't want to go. And neither did Idri, truly, if what he'd said yesterday was any indicator. Cal would just have to hold onto the hope that Idri would change his mind once he calmed down a bit.

Sighing, he dragged himself to his feet again, wincing as the bite on his shoulder stung again. He rubbed at it through the fabric of his tunic, grimacing. Why had Idri looked at it like that before? Caldor would think Idri just felt guilty for biting him that hard, but whatever Idri had felt back then had seemed much stronger than simple guilt.

But given the dragon's earlier worry about hurting him, Cal would have to remember to point out that he was just fine. He had gotten hurt plenty of times before—this was nothing in comparison. Though he did wonder a little how Idri had managed this. That bite was a bit too deep for human teeth to manage easily, especially not without Caldor even noticing, and in general, the mark looked different than it should, even though Idri had normal teeth as far as Cal had noticed.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Caldor began wandering the fort aimlessly as he continued rubbing the bite, as if by instinct ending up on the walkway on top of the fort's tall walls. He leaned on the battlements, staring out through the gaps into the distance. The fort was so large he sometimes forgot it was in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't see Redreach from here, though that wasn't surprising given that it had taken half a day to get here by horse.

Cal sighed again, feeling intense homesickness spread through him in an unstoppable wave that made his eyes sting. Being around Idri had done wonders for Cal when it came to avoiding thinking about the mass murder of his guild, but given what had just happened, it wasn't working right now.

He couldn't believe he'd felt happy yesterday. He should have known better than to think Idri did like him back. He'd just been too drunk to think. Why would a dragon settle for a human, anyway? And even if Idri wanted that, he could very easily find someone better. Idri had been pretty adamant about claiming no one would accept him the way he looked, but Cal didn't believe that for one second. Sure, someone would get put off by it, but not everyone. It had barely taken Caldor any time to get past it.

Shaking his head, Cal sat down, leaning again the battlements with his back and staring up at the cloudy sky. He suddenly felt numb, and he was almost glad for it. He knew grief and sadness were bound to get to him sooner or later, so he would enjoy the bit of nothingness he was being offered.

He tried to think of what he was going to say to Idri, but he couldn't think of anything he didn't cringe at. What was he even supposed to say? A sorry wasn't going to cut it, but it was all he had.

Caldor spent the next few hours aimlessly walking around the fort, making sure to avoid any of the usual spaces Idri tended to occupy until Cal couldn't handle his anxiousness anymore. Hoping that Idri wasn't too angry to have a conversation anymore, Caldor practically ran up the stairs leading to the hallway where the dragon's bedroom was.

He could barely breathe as he reached the hallway, but then he froze in place in front of it. He knew he had to keep moving, but he was too panicked to get his feet working again. All he could do was stare down at the rug beneath his feet, his mind blanking about what he'd been planning on saying.

But he wasn't given any time to calm down, as Idri strolled out of his library, glaring. He must have heard Cal walking over here. Caldor was scared to look him in the eye, but when he mustered up the courage to do so, he could immediately see that Idri's eyes weren't angry, despite the glare. There was sorrow and pain in them, not fury. It made Caldor's stomach twist in guilt and worry much more than anger ever could.

"I told you to leave," Idri said, his voice shockingly steady and neutral. But it didn't matter how well the dragon could mask the emotion in his voice, Caldor could still see it on his face clearly.

"I...I know," Cal forced out, not knowing what else to say.

"Then why are you still here?"

Caldor could have sworn Idri's voice broke a tiny bit at the end of that question. And it felt awful to hear. Cal wanted to hug him so badly, but given that he was the cause of this, that was unlikely to help.

"I'm sorry," Caldor blurted out, looking down as he was unable to handle Idri's intense stare anymore. "If I hurt you. I didn't mean for...all of that to happen when I suggested we get a drink."

A moment of silence followed. Cal desperately wished he could lock eyes with Idri again and see the expression on the dragon's face, to know what his reaction to this was. But at that moment, he couldn't get himself to move even an inch. He felt as if the world would end if he dared to.

"Will you leave now?"

Caldor's head sprung up at that, his mouth opening to reply. But he had no words to say as he stared into Idri's pained eyes. Was the dragon not even going to acknowledge the apology? Cal wouldn't try to force forgiveness out of him of course, but he had expected the dragon to at least respond to it somehow. Had Caldor messed up much more than he'd thought?

But all of that left his mind when he suddenly saw the dragon start to disrobe. Caldor couldn't even manage to avert his gaze as right in front of him Idri began to transform. Golden scales grew all over his skin as his whole body turned bigger, longer, sharper, with huge wings, and horns, until a moment later a massive dragon was towering above him, his wicked, sharp claws practically tearing the rug beneath his feet apart just by standing on it.

Caldor found himself rooted to the spot in terror, staring right into those familiar but now huge eyes. His instincts were telling him to run for his life immediately, but he didn't listen to them. They were wrong. This was Idri, no matter how large he was and how terrifying he looked in his true form. Idri wouldn't hurt him.

Right?

The dragon snorted, flaring his nostrils and narrowing his eyes, lowering his huge head towards Caldor, as if to get a better look at the human. Idri was so large like this that he was managing to completely blot out the chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling somewhere behind him, casting Caldor into partial darkness. It was a wonder Idri even fit into the hallway like this.

"Leave," the dragon said, his voice deeper and louder like this, his fangs glinting when he opened his maw. Some of them looked as long as Caldor's forearm and sharper than any sword he'd ever seen. "Leave, and never return."

Caldor wanted to argue, to apologize again, to try to reason with Idri, anything.... But then he felt his will to resist this drain out of him. If this was what Idri wanted, he had no right to try to change his mind. The dragon had clearly already made a decision about this, anyway, so it would be fruitless even if Cal did try.

Cal lowered his gaze as his eyes started to sting. He nodded, trying to blink his tears away and swallow down his sadness. "R-right. Of course." He took a deep breath as he turned around. If he didn't leave right now, he felt like he never would, and staying would just make things infinitely worse. There was no reason to stay any longer anyway. And so with a mutter of one more apology, Caldor did as he was told, heading down the stairs again.

His mind was in a similar kind of fog as when he'd gotten here for the first time, except instead of fear driving him forward, now it was grief. Though it didn't take him long for that grief to turn into the same numbness he'd felt before. He let his feet carry him to the courtyard, having memorized the way over there by now. He was walking out through the door in the gate before he even thought to question why it was unlocked.

But once he did, he kept going, not daring to stop out of fear of running right back and trying to apologize to Idri again. It would be completely pointless, but Cal's pained heart was stronger than his mind right now, and he felt like he had no control.

He kept walking through the long grass surrounding the fort, heading in no particular direction aside from away. Cal just needed to put enough distance between him and the fort right now. That was all he could think about as he walked faster and faster. He didn't even dare look back, knowing he'd at the very least stop. And he couldn't afford to stop.

Caldor only risked a glance at the fort once it was just a small structure on the horizon, but the sight of it still immediately brought more tears to his eyes. Cal angrily blinked them away, making his way over to a nearby tree and collapsing down under it.

He furiously rubbed at his eyes, too stubborn to let out any of the turmoil and heartbreak he was feeling. At the moment, he couldn't help but feel angry with it all. It had barely been a week, and yet he'd gotten so attached to Idri already. It was frankly ridiculous—he realized it—and yet it took all of his willpower to keep his tears at bay.

Shutting his eyes and taking in a few deep breaths, Caldor drew his knees close to his chest and laid his head against them. Why did he feel even more lost now than when his guild had been destroyed and he'd been forced to leave Redreach?

He'd really made a mess of things, hadn't he? All he'd wanted was to make Idri feel better, to make up for stealing that damned spellbook, and what did Caldor do instead? Upset the dragon enough to banish him. So not only had Cal not made things better, he'd most likely made them much worse.

Gods, he was useless. All he'd ever been good at was lying and stealing, and he clearly should have stuck with that, instead of wasting Idri's time.

Wait.... He frowned and lifted his head as an idea suddenly popped up in his brain. Right, he was good at stealing things. So why shouldn't he put those skills to good use? Stealing that book had messed things up for Idri, so stealing it back might fix it.

It was a terrible idea, given that Caldor would be killed or captured if a guard or soldier as much as saw him and recognized him, but this was the only thing that could make things right. He'd wanted to try to get it back before, but he'd gotten so distracted that he'd barely thought about it. But now that the distraction was gone, he couldn't think about anything else.

Caldor didn't think Idri would want him around even if Cal did succeed in getting that spellbook back, but he didn't even truly care. He just wanted to help Idri. Caldor might not know what exactly Idri needed it for, but he did obviously need it from how he'd always talked about it. And if it would help him find happiness, Caldor wanted to get it for him. Or at least try to get it.

Thinking about it realistically, he was unlikely to succeed, no matter how good of a thief he was. He realized as much. But unlike his other attempts at making Idri feel better, this wouldn't affect Idri directly if Caldor failed. And if he did fail, then so be it. He had nothing left to lose, anyway.

Getting up, his teeth gritted in newfound determination, Caldor quickly searched for the sun to determine which way was west, and therefore where Redreach was.

It was time to get going.