“I forgot to close the roof slats,” Theo said, rubbing his temples. He’d had such a good morning up until now, too. The blanket setup let him move Adam with considerably more ease so he didn’t even need to wait for Telsa to come over. He’d still make an enchantment though, because he could.

But the roof slats. Stardust coated his entire shop space. He could feel a headache coming on.

Theo grimaced, mentally probing his mana pool. Still leaking. Better but… not great. “Maybe I can control it just enough. Broomgust.”

Mind clamped down on his mana pool, Theo controlled the spell the best he could - which wasn’t great. A torrent of wind spiraled inward toward his hand, the stardust following suit. His will stretched thinner and thinner as he tried to take reign of the spell.

Products fell off the shelves, clattering to the ground. Theo dove, catching a potion bottle just before it hit the ground. A big mistake, he realized. His ribs bellowed out their complaints.

He laid in a mess of products on the floor. Nothing critically damaged, it seemed. The durability enchantments on his potion glasses had done their job. Good. Durability of his body, though? Not so great, apparently.

Groaning, Theo stood up and dusted himself off. At the very least, a large pile of stardust sat at the epicenter of where he’d fallen to the floor.

As he began to gingerly pick objects out of the pile and put them back on the shelves, he heard a clatter - and a thump - from his workshop.

Theo’s heart began to race in his chest. An intruder? Maraz? He looked around his shop, and grabbed a few smooth spheres off the ground. Some of his Dissonance orbs. These should stun whoever it is long enough that I can trap them with something else. The guards certainly won’t help me, if Maraz still has them ignoring my shop.

Creeping on his toes, Theo padded through his kitchen door, and then grabbed the handle to his workshop door. It was already open a crack. Not good. He clutched his Dissonance spheres in his other hand. They almost slipped, his hands were clammy.

Peeking through the cracked door, Theo couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t hiding after making so much noise.

Taking several gulps of air, he steeled himself, and shoved the door open. A cursory scan of the full room didn’t reveal anyone hiding. There weren’t that many hiding spaces, the room was pretty open.

Just as he moved to check behind the door, his eyes looked down on the floor. His sack of gallarant seeds sat on the floor in front of his shelves - wriggling. A familiar verdant, feathery plume poked out from a tear in the bag.

“Huh?” Theo said, unable to help himself. “Is that…?”

The bag ceased wriggling. The… tail, he decided, pulled back inside. A feathery, serpentine head popped out, spilling seeds across the floor. Small, clawed digits gripped seeds in them as well. “Mrrp?” the creature chirped.

“Y-You! From Relicor’s forest!” Theo said, pointing at the feathery… serpentine… winged creature. His mind slowly began to form a conclusion as to what he’d seen in the forest just a few days ago. Everything had happened so fast after that, he hadn’t had a chance to really think about it.

The creature’s eyes widened. Its mouth opened and its green body suddenly shifted to yellow. “Nice day!” Theo’s own voice called out, but not from him. Its body shifted green once more as it began to stuff seeds in its mouth.

“Hey! Those are gallarant seeds, I need them for potions!” Theo exclaimed, waving his hands at the serpent. The serpent with wings. And feathers. And arms. He didn’t want to admit this was what he was seeing, but his mind screamed the truth.

Dragon.

“Nice day!” the dragon chirped, still in Theo’s voice - and directly into his ears, as if the sound came from right next to him. It began to eat the seeds with increased fervor as Theo approached it.

“Please leave my seeds alone! I’ll find you some tastier food!” Theo pleaded, trying to shoo the dragon out of the bag without getting too close. It had teeth.

When Theo did try to grab it, it snapped at him. Making a frustrated noise, he ran from the room, scavenging his larder. He came back with several cuts of meat, and any of the vegetables he had available.

Theo wafted the scents of the food with his hand toward the small dragon, pleading in his mind.

Its head perked up once more. A forked tongue stuck out, testing the air. The creature looked down at the pile of seeds it sat in, tested them with a tongue once, and shimmied out. Green scales and feathers shifted darker as yellow, serpentine eyes locked onto the plate.

It set upon Theo, but he ran from the room, plate in hand.

“Nice day!” screamed in his ear once more. Once out of the workshop, Theo slid the plate across the floor of his kitchen.

A blur of green flew past him, landing on the plate.

Theo slammed the workshop door shut. His heart thrummed in his chest. When he turned around, however, the plate was gone, dragon included.

“Um. Oh dear. What do I even-” Theo said to himself, running a hand through his hair. A carrot sat in the doorway to his room. His eyes widened. “Oh no.”

Running into his room, Theo found the dragon curled up on his pile of vests. The plate lay empty next to it.

“How did you even eat it all so quickly?” Theo asked, approaching the green menace.

It lazily opened one eye, snuffed, and wriggled in its new bed. Its color shifted to lavender once it found a comfortable position.

With the opportunity open, Theo took a moment to observe his home intruder.

A plume of fluffy feathers adorned its head, with straight, spiraling horns poking out on either side toward the back of its head. Where feathers didn’t cover, scales did, coating its body in a sleek, shiny layer.

It had only two arms, ending in curled claws - talons? Theo wasn’t sure of the difference. Definitely arms. No legs. Just arms. Didn’t dragons usually have a set of each? Or… four legs? Were their bodies supposed to be so… noodly? Long-forgotten fights about different dragon types resurfaced in his mind.

The dragon’s tail swished back and forth. Theo found himself wondering if it was soft - and if he’d have a bed to sleep in at all tonight.

Temptation was a cruel mistress. In mere moments, Theo found his hand moving towards the creature against his best interests. A single finger poked the tail feathers. They were soft. His hand moved up to the plume on its head.

Go for it, Theo. It’s not every day you get to pet a dragon, Theo thought, his hand trembling mere centimeters above the sleeping creature’s head.

Contact. It was even softer than the tail. The dragon quirked an eye open, made an airy noise, and closed its eyes again. Theo took that as an invitation. Slowly at first, he stroked down the line of feathers lining its head and neck to where it ended midway at the torso.

There, the scales were smooth and sleek, only the small ridges between each of them apparent.

Theo couldn’t help it, a small squee escaped his lips. The dragon huffed, the smallest tinge of red shifting in its colors for a moment, but arched its back into his hand a little. Scritches, then.

Soon, he had his new dragon friend on cloud nine as he found where it liked to be scratched the most. Its scales and feathers shifted once more, turning bright yellow.

This seemed to be the best moment for this. He paused on the scratching for a moment. The creature eyed him, shades of red reaching its feathers again. “Hey um, Mr. or Mrs. Dragon? I can give you other food but can you please not eat my gallarant seeds?”

Eyes stared at him, uncomprehending.

“I’ll just… jar everything I guess,” Theo said, sighing. “I’d love to stay here patting you, but I need to work, okay? You’re welcome to sleep here if you’d like though.”

Glancing at Adam, he tried his best not to frown. “It’s been a bit lonely.”

Feathers and scales shifted blue, the dragon made a sad sound.

Theo patted the dragon on the head once more. He tapped his lips with a finger. “We need a name for you. Do you have a name?”

It shifted to grey, quirking its head.

“Can- can I call you Tirr?” Theo asked, scooting closer.

Its body shifted yellow and it chirped. “Tirr!” It rubbed its head against his hand, using Theo’s voice over and over to repeat its name.

“Well then, Tirr. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Theo,” he said, scritching the dragon once more.

“Nice day!” Tirr said, its yellow color brightening.

“No, say it with me. Thee-oh,” he said, carefully annunciating his name.

“Nice day!”

Theo facepalmed.

Getting work done was harder than expected with a… pet, maybe? He was still unclear on that front, but the dragon didn’t seem to be going anywhere immediately. Hadn’t his parents always said, the pet chooses the owner? The little seed thief certainly chose him.

Too much, it turned out.

Theo tried to resume his enchanting. A feathery head poked out from under his arm, forcing its way onto his workspace. It scrambled up the counter, wings flapping.

“I’m working right now, Tirr. I can pet you later,” Theo chastised.

The dragon had him hook, line, and sinker, though. Beady eyes stared up at him. It turned a sad shade of blue.

A soft sigh left Theo. He pet Tirr, again. The little thief purred happily, turning yellow once more. He couldn’t find it in his heart to be mad at that face.

Tirr’s tail swished on the counter, knocking several of Theo’s finished enchantments off. As he moved around the counter to pick them up, and put them in a basket, Tirr flapped over to his shelves, sending up a cloud of stardust.

Right. He still hadn’t cleaned it all. The pile of stardust he had gathered was packed away, at least. And products were back on the shelves.

Tirr reared its head up, its mouth opening and closing rapidly. Its body inflated to twice - three times its size. A sneeze followed, blasting wind across the shop. Products fell to the floor once more, and a cloud of stardust caught light beams from the roof slats. The dragon dove for the light beams, flailing its claws until it thumped on the floor, flashing red for a second.

Theo stood there, watching chaos unfold. The doorbell rang.

Telsa walked in, her hair pulled back in a ponytail today. “Hey, Theo. We’re back. I’m ready to sell some- What the fuck?”

“What is it, Telsa? I- oh my,” Nils said, spotting the dragon batting a potion bottle across the floor.

“Can you guys just say what it is or move? I can’t see- holy shit,” Deskan said, pushing herself between Telsa and Nils.

The three of them looked up at Theo in concert. Telsa opened her mouth and closed it.

Nils did a double take to the floor and back. “Theo, is- is that a wyvern?”

“Wyverns don’t have front claws, Nils,” Deskan said, huffing. “It’s a lindworm.”

Tesla glared at Deskan. “Lindworms don’t have wings. It’s a cockatrice.”

“Cockatrices don’t have front arms either. And they have back legs,” Nils muttered, looking the other way when Telsa leered at him.

“I-I’ve just been calling it a dragon. Though I suppose it could potentially be an amphithere?” Theo said, adding in his own guess. He didn’t know a lot about dragons, admittedly.

Tirr looked between everyone, shifting between red, yellow, and grey. It went back to playing with the potion bottle.

“Amphithere is, ah, close but those don’t have front claws either. What is it, then? The name is on the tip of my tongue,” Nils said, inclining his head toward the ceiling in thought.

“That is a zilant. A feathered zilant, specifically. A subspecies I am told,” a new voice said. “Hello, Theo. I am told you were horribly injured. May I see the bruises?”

“...Hi Viktor,” Theo said as the Vanguard’s Grip stepped out of the way of the floating crystal core.

“Good morning, Theo. I see you have acquired a subservient creature. My studies have indicated that these have a sedative effect on your organic systems. Quite fascinating. May I study this creature?” Viktor said, his orb bobbing toward the zilant.

“Would you be able to tell its gender? I named it Tirr already, but I didn’t know,” Theo said, shrugging.

“That is quite simple, Theo. This is a male feathered zilant. You can tell by the arrangement of its feather lengths. This one is juvenile and has quite likely bonded to you, judging from the mana connection between you two,” Viktor said, the orb spinning to Theo once more.

“Theo, when and where did you get a dragon?” Telsa asked, addressing the obvious question hanging in the air.

Theo colored. He didn’t know why, maybe it was the focused attention of everyone. “Oh um, well, you see… Back when we were in the forest? I gave Tirr some berries from my bag because it- he looked hungry. I… guess he found me again.” He frowned. “He was eating my gallarant seeds.”

Viktor pivoted in place, taking in the room. “Yes, feathered zilants are one of the few draconic subspecies which are not obligate carnivores. They will eat anything organic. Something I wish to be able to partake in. Eventually.”

“...Right. Um, Viktor, what was it you said about a- a mana connection?” Theo asked, glancing at Tirr who was scrunching up his body, eyeing Viktor’s core.

“Ah, yes. I forget at times that most life forms do not have constant mana perception and must intentionally perform such actions. Use your sight and observe, Theo,” Viktor said, bobbing up and down.

With as much control as he could manage, Theo allowed mana to flow into his eyes. It was… more uncomfortable than usual with the tears limiting his control. He gasped, however, when he looked at Tirr. A tether of mana lay between the two of them.

“Feathered zilants are known for their Primordial and Integral alignments. They typically use them to mimic sounds and-” Viktor’s core plinked off the ground as Tirr pounced at it. His core rose back up, with Tirr riding it. “Confuse their prey. This is fascinating. I had not even considered the consumption of inorganic materials. Theo, do you perceive me as appetizing?”

Deskan whispered something that earned her an elbow from Telsa.

“...I think Tirr is just being playful. Your um- your core is a shiny crystal orb,” Theo said, a smile settling on his face as he watched Tirr try to stay on the smooth orb.

Viktor’s orb dipped down, and Tirr scrambled for purchase. “That is most disappointing. However, this act appears to have brought you elation. I shall need to further consider acts of play in my interactions with organic life forms.”

“Um, yeah. Theo, I’m gonna take Deskan to see Adam, okay? Nils… stay here and help out?” Telsa said, walking toward the door into Theo’s home.

Deskan followed suit, frowning slightly with concern in her eyes.

Theo watched them go. He hoped Deskan wouldn’t break something in his room. She… didn’t seem like she had the most self control yet. She was - young.

“So, the bond, Viktor? What does it do exactly?” Theo asked, placing a hand on his abdomen as if he could feel it himself.

“Typically these bonds are either used for tracking prey or finding mates or family. I suspect you fall into the third category unless you are inclined toward animals.”

Nils choked on his water flask, covering his mouth.

Victor turned to him. “Intriguing.” He turned back to Theo. “Your mate appears to be Adam, however, so I have eliminated all but the third category for this bond.”

Theo felt his ears burning. “Um. Yeah, Adam is um, yes. He’s… he’s hurt, too.”

“I have caused you distress. This was not my intent. Allow me to give you one of your human hugs, Theo. This also serves the dual benefit of me being able to more closely observe your physical damage,” Viktor said, an invisible force pressing in on Theo.

“...Thank you, Viktor. If it’s not too much trouble, I can’t really control my mana again. I was… assaulted two days ago and used an empowered Condense to save myself. Anyway, my Broomgust is too powerful right now and I simply knock over products. Could you gather up the stardust that fell into my shop last night? I… accidentally left the roof slats open. I think that’s how this one got inside,” Theo said, gesturing to Tirr.

“That is an easily accomplished task for me. Give me one moment,” Viktor said, soft winds gathering in the air. They gained force, until the stardust took to the air, gathering into a ball.

Theo walked into his workshop while Viktor did so, searching around. He was running out of jars after storing most of his sacks of ingredients in them to keep a certain little thief out.

At last, he found one that would hopefully have enough capacity. Free stardust was free stardust, he wasn’t going to complain too much.

Tirr sat perched on his counter once more while Viktor talked to Nils when Theo stepped back into the room.

Viktor turned to Theo when he walked back into the room. “Ah, Theo. In my distraction with your new zilant, I have lost time in my scheduled visits for the day. Allow me to fill your proffered vessel with the gathered stardust and I must be on my way.”

Theo blinked, processing what Viktor said, and held the jar out. “Um, okay.”

A localized tornado of the glittering substance spun into the jar, settling lightly into it. It filled most of the container, surprisingly light for the amount. “Thank you, Viktor,” Theo said, smiling at the starborn.

“You are most welcome. I will resist the temptation to inspect Adam’s damaged body as I am already limited in time. I would have much more of it if organic life forms did not have a diurnal cycle,” the orb said, moving to the door. “Farewell and good health to you both, Theo, Nils, Tirr.”

The door closed behind Viktor.

Minutes later, it opened again.

A green blur stormed in, products falling off the shelves in her wake.

“Oh my gods, Theo. I saw my landlord Viktor while I was out on a delivery, and he told me he’d just been at your shop, and then he mentioned how you were attacked, and-” Pina paused, staring at Tirr on the counter. “Is that a zilant?”