The sudden kick to Joseph’s stomach caused him to land on his ass and look up at Charlie, sourly. It was a week and a half after asking the vampire to teach him how to fight…About the only thing he’d learned so far was that he couldn’t fight worth a shit with a sword. With a sigh, he took Charlie’s hand and pulled himself up to his feet. “What did I do wrong this time?”

“You’re still broadcasting what you’re going to do before you strike, which is how I’m able to evade you so well. You’re light on your feet, which is fantastic, but…You’re treating the sword like it’s an axe or hammer.” Charlie frowned at the younger man for a moment. “Sword fighting takes a certain finesse, and I’m not sure you have it…You’re doing better than when you first started, because now I’m confident you wouldn’t hurt yourself in a sword fight, but I’m just not sure a cutlass is right for you.”

This cause Joseph to get an even sourer look before he looked towards the horizon. They still had a bit of time before the sun rose. “So, I just have to try that much harder.”

“No, I mean that you’d probably be better suited for a different weapon…Or at least a sword that requires some strength behind it instead of one that relies on speed. You have a very aggressive fighting style and a cutlass doesn’t seem to work for you.” He sat down on the stump used to chop wood on. “You remind me of a two-year-old colt: fully grown but not filled out. The sort of colt where you don’t want to buy a saddle because it won’t fit him in six months. I think you’ll be a very dangerous man when you’re older, Joseph, based on that alone.”

“As long as I don’t get any taller.” Joseph made a bit of a face as he handed the cutlass to Charlie. “It’s hard enough to find pants that fit, and I’m already tired of people asking if I’m half giant or something.”

Charlie made a thoughtful noise. “Your height has to do with your dragon form, doesn’t it? I think you mentioned how it grew with you.”

“Right. Which makes me wonder if I’ll eventually change shirt sizes as I figure out how to use my wings.”

“Ah, right. Building up muscle for flight. It’s a possibility. Well, just take your time and don’t push yourself. You might heal quickly, but I doubt that having a broken wing would be very fun.” He glanced up at the sky that’d shifted towards the grey of predawn. “Well, I’d best get back inside. Going to try to catch a few more hours of sleep or are you going to stay up?”

“I was thinking about going back to bed after grabbing a few of the dinner rolls from last night…Unless there’s anything you need me to do?” Joseph followed the vampire inside and beelined it to the aforementioned rolls.

“Not that I can think of. There might be a shipment arriving today, but it’ll be sometime after noon when it gets here.”

“Then I’ll go back to bed.” He gave Charlie a brief nod before heading upstairs.

Most mornings after sword practice, his hunger woke him up. This time, it was the sound of someone knocking on his door. Sleepily, Joseph stumbled over to the door and opened it, then blinked at Xavier confusedly. “What is it?”

“Ah, shit. I figured you’d already be up.” Xavier held up a plate of food. “I wanted to continue talking but if you don’t want to…?”

After a moment, Joseph waved him inside and then went to pull his shirt on. “From the other week, I’m guessing?”

“I guess? I just sort of wanted to…Talk. None of us really know much about you and I’m curious as hell about you. Like…Where the fuck did you get all those scars on your back?” Xavier sat down at the table with his own breakfast.

“Mountain cats.” Joseph sat down as well and peered at his breakfast for a moment before he started eating. “When I was younger, a couple of them attacked me while I was eating a kill. I couldn’t heal as quickly back then, so I ended up with a bunch of bad scars.”

“Are they just on your human form or…?”

“Nah. They show up on both. It’s kind of weird, honestly…But I figure that most things with half a brain wouldn’t want to mess with me because of the scars.” He shoved a strip of bacon into his mouth and made a quiet noise of enjoyment.

Xavier nodded slightly and poked at his own food while he tried to think up more questions to ask. Finally, he blurted out what he’d been wanting to ask since he found out about Joseph’s shapeshifting. “Could you show me what you look like as a dragon?”

Looking up, Joseph stared for a moment in surprise. He simply wasn’t used to the idea of people being curious about him. Scared, fearful, and judgmental? Absolutely. “Well, I mean…I don’t mind the idea but…”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.” Xavier said quickly, unsure if he’d asked a sensitive question.

“No, no. It’s just…I’d have to show you outside of the city. I’m not exactly a small dragon. Plus, I have to do it nude because the change doesn’t play nice with clothes.” He frowned slightly at Xavier since Charlie had mentioned the other man being ‘interested’ in some fashion. “I’m not shy, I just don’t like being stared at…It just feels like a challenge.”

“Well, normally, I would want to stare because…You know…But like I mentioned the other day: Senara gave us all a crash course and that included staring. She doesn’t know how much of what she knows is going be similar since there’s a massive difference between dragons and lycans. I figure some information is better than none.” Xavier stabbed his eggs with his fork. “Charlie is planning on being closed on Saturday due to some religious holiday in the city. He doesn’t think the tavern will get much interest. So, we could go outside the city then. I’m…Just damned curious, alright? I’ve never met a dragon, let alone seen one.”

Joseph pushed his empty plate away. “It’s just weird, that’s all. I’m used to people avoid me or cursing me because I’m different. I mean, I’m not going to complain, but…I don’t know. It’s hard to explain, I guess.”

“No, I think I get you. You’re not used to it. Look, Joseph. Charlie’s basically adopted you, like it or not. We’re kinda this weird, dysfunctional family and you’re part of it.” He laughed. “Me and Senara didn’t have much of a say in it, but Charlie’s never steered us wrong. The guy has a good eye and can really judge a person’s character when he sees them. If he says you’re a decent guy, then I’m not going to say otherwise.”

“How did you and Senara end up here?”

“Senara was a street rat and a thief. It’s why she’s so good with a knife. She tried to steal from Charlie, who caught her mid act. He initially hired her to wash the dishes and after awhile she became the bar maid. I’m the only one who actually got hired because I was looking for a job.” He stacked his plate on top of Joseph’s.

“So, if he owns the place, why do you claim you do when people talk to you?”

“Because it’s technically in my name. He’d been, officially, running it under false names because of city taxes. He looks human and it raises questions…With me obviously not being fully human,” Xavier gestured at his ears, “it makes it easier for my name to be attached to all the legal stuff. I’m the ‘official’ owner, but it’s actually him.”

“Huh. Well, that does make a lot of sense.” Frankly, Joseph hadn’t even considered the idea of immortality causing legal issues. Then again, he’d come to the conclusion that he’d led a very, very sheltered life thus far.

“So…Back to you. You hunt, kill, and eat animals, right?” At the nod, Xavier hesitantly licked his lips. “Have you done that to anyone? I know you killed the people at Murval, and for good reason, but I mean outside that.”

Joseph hesitated, himself, for several long minutes for nodding slightly. “Some young hunter. When you hunt, you want your shot to be a killing shot. Not just to be humane, but for safety reasons. I mean, if you’re hunting a moose or an elk? Sure, it might bolt or it might turn around and try to trample you. The two shots he took at me just…Pissed me off. I was in the middle of eating, too. So, I chased him down, attacked him, and…Well…I wasn’t as hungry when I finished with him.”

“You know. Considering how moody you get about your food? That does not surprise me in the least bit. I’m pretty sure you’d bite someone if they tried to take your food.” The sharp grin the other man gave him only caused him to roll his eyes, but also made him suspect that he was correct. “I mean, as long as you’re not going out of your way to kill people, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. You were acting out of self-defense…Even if you did eat the guy.”

“It didn’t taste bad…But I don’t know. I’d rather not.” Then he snorted loudly. “I guess since I’m not human it doesn’t count as cannibalism, does it?”

“…That is incredibly dark and I love it. But I think you’d be right.” Xavier suddenly grinned. “Hey, that means that if I need someone to disappear, I can just feed them to you.”

“I’m not your damn garbage disposal.”

“I dunno. You look like you came out of a garbage heap.” He leaned forward to teasingly tug on the sleeve of Joseph’s shirt, earning himself a swat on the hand and an annoyed rumble.

“Because it’s comfortable! Plus, it’s easier to get out of my clothes when I need or want to shift…And honestly? I’m used to the hunting lifestyle. If you’re doing a lot of traveling, you want something comfortable to wear.”

Xavier bowed his head slightly to concede the point. “Understandable. Well, it’s not like you’re manning the bar. You only wander out if someone’s causing trouble.”

“Do the sailors usually cause so much trouble?”

“Usually, yeah. They only make port every few months and after being stuck on the ship for so long? They get kinda feisty.” He waggled his eyebrows, suggestively. “Most are smart enough to mind their manners, but a couple of the assholes won’t…Which is when you get to breeze in and scare the piss outta them.”

“I don’t really mind doing that. Sometimes I kinda hope they try something because I want to fight something, but at the same time I don’t exactly like so many people. It’s almost like they’re trespassing…And…I don’t know. I guess I’ve kind of adopted you guys, too, because I sort of feel like I need to keep you safe? It’s a weird feeling, I guess, and I don’t really know how to explain it.” Joseph frowned. “But I’ve always had a hard time putting it into words, so that’s nothing new.”

“Some of that sounds like the territorial stuff Senara mentioned. I can ask her when she shows up for work, if you want?”

“That’d be great, actually. I’m still trying to figure things out for myself. I keep getting bits of information here and there but it’s just not enough.” He sighed and then finally shrugged. “Well, I should head downstairs to see if Charlie needs any help.”

The next few days passed quickly and Joseph saw his role as bouncer shift more towards ‘heavy lifter’. It left him fairly bored, but he didn’t need to do much with how the current sailors minded. If anything, they were incredibly polite and often left tips. Since Charlie paid everyone a decent wage, the extra money was split between the three of them; the vampire didn’t have an interest in the money, citing he had plenty of his own.

So, when Saturday finally arrived, Joseph felt eager to leave the city. Once more, he found himself with more pent up energy than he knew what to do with. After breakfast, he set out for the lands beyond the city…Only this time, Xavier accompanied him. Honestly, he really didn’t feel confident with the idea and a subtle tension settled into his bones as the half-elf jabbered next to him.

“You talk a lot.” Joseph abruptly noted.

“You talk too little.”

“Well, there isn’t much reason to talk when you’re by yourself, is there?” He glanced to Xavier and raised his eyebrow. “If I’m going to catch an antelope for dinner like Charlie requested, either you’re going to learn to shut up or I’m going to have to dump you somewhere so you don’t spook everything.”

“I can be quiet, I just choose not to.” Xavier gave a cheeky grin.

“I’m pretty sure the only time you’re quiet is when you have a cock in your mouth.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“Maybe, maybe not, maybe you should find out.” He could only laugh when Joseph shoved him. “What, not interested in men?”

Joseph simply shrugged. He hadn’t been exposed to enough people to really make up his mind. Deciding to change the subject, he pointed at the cluster of rocks that he usually changed at. “There.”

“What about it?” Xavier hadn’t missed how Joseph had changed the subject, but chose not to push it…For now.

“That’s where I usually change at.” Once they reached it, he gestured for the other man to turn around while he tugged his clothes off. “Just as a warning: it sounds nasty.”

“Nasty? What do you mean nasty?” He got his answer quickly enough in the form of popping, grinding, and cracking bones. Immediately, he ducked his head down in a cringe at how horrible it sounded. When the sound stopped, he slowly relaxed. “Alright, that was pretty nasty sounding. Can I turn around now?”

Joseph slowly shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of how the other man would react. Finally, he gently nudged Xavier’s shoulder with his nose. It didn’t exactly surprise him to be gawked at, nor that Xavier took a few steps back, but he couldn’t tell if he was going to run or not.

“Holy shit!! That is so fucking awesome.” Xavier just about tripped over the small rocks in an attempt to get a better look at Joseph. Curiously, he traced his fingers over a green stripe on the dragon’s shoulder but frowned when they brushed over a faded scar. “Lemme see your head?”

He lowered his head and blinked a few times at the other man’s excited expression. However, when a hand reached for his head, he snorted loudly and, gently, shoved Xavier away with his head. The half-elf squawked in surprise as he landed on his ass, then looked up with an offended look. However, the look quickly shifted to something curious and suddenly, Xavier had ducked under him.

“Look at the size of your claws! And that big fucker on your toe! I bet you could gut a moose.” After a moment, Xavier popped up beside Joseph and touched his wing. “They look massive. Can you open them?”

If anything, Joseph felt amused at how delighted the other man seemed to be. Finally, he shifted to his hind legs in order to give himself more distance from the ground and fully opened his wings. He held the position for a short bit before going back to all fours and closing his wings. However, his amusement didn’t last long when Xavier suddenly vaulted onto his back. He froze for a moment before rearing up slightly and going down to his elbows. The half-elf squawked again when he was suddenly unseated and landed on the ground.

“I probably should have asked first.” After sitting up, Xavier sat there for a moment and rubbed his back, trying not to look at Joseph who had an intense glare. “Y’know. You’re more…Animalistic, I guess, like this…But I can still tell that it’s you. It’s kinda weird. I probably should sit on your back, though. I’m not going to be able to walk and keep up with you. Wait, can you talk like this? I can’t remember if you mentioned it or not.”

As much as he hated the idea, Xavier had a point. Quietly, Joseph rumbled his displeasure at the idea and finally gestured at his back. Then, he gestured at his mouth and shook it head to indicate his inability to speak.

“I guess it sort of makes sense you wouldn’t be able to talk.” He eyed Joseph’s back again, but this time grabbed the other man’s things before he vaulted back onto his back. It took a moment for him to get settled, but finally patted the massive neck in front of him. “I’m ready. Just…Don’t knock me off. I really, really, don’t want to crack my head open.”

For the moment, Joseph chose to simply walk. It gave him a chance to get used to the feeling of someone on his back. While the extra weight didn’t bother him, it just felt weird. Finally, he shifted into a lazy jog. He hadn’t scented anything interesting yet and wasn’t sure if he’d find anything huntable. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the habits of the local wildlife and couldn’t make any sort of guess on where they might be grazing. Even if he didn’t catch anything, he felt that he needed the romp.

Surprisingly, Xavier had gone quiet and it prompted him to glance over his shoulder at the half-elf. No, he hadn’t fallen off, but he did have a dumb grin on his face. Joseph snorted loudly and shifted his attention back to the rocky terrain in front of him. However, he spotted something in the distance and slowed to a walk while he tried to figure out what he saw.

He carefully crouched down and slinked forward, not wanting to spook the antelope if that’s what he’d spotted. When the wind shifted, he scented the antelope. Quickly, he froze and looked around for a spot to dump Xavier off. While the half-elf seemed to do well at a trot, he doubted he’d remain seated at a full-blown run.

Finding a suitable rock, he gently nudged at Xavier to get him to hop off. Once he had, Joseph made a soft snort and nudged the other again, this time against the rock. Hopefully, he’d get the idea because he didn’t know if he’d come across another herd of antelope, the damned things were so flighty.

Despite getting the idea that he was supposed to stay put, Xavier crept around the rock to watch Joseph hunt. As the dragon crouch-slinked forward, parts of him seemed to ripple away…As if he was trying to become invisible but not quite making it. Enough of him remained that Xavier was able to watch the hunt.

Where Joseph was naïve about city life, Xavier was naïve about the harsh realities of nature. He initially felt excited at watching the chase, but the high-pitched scream the antelope made caused his stomach to churn and he had to look away.

It caused him to feel conflicted towards Joseph. While the other man had an air of innocence and naïvety, it really just masked what he really was. Truthfully, Xavier didn’t know how he’d ever seen him as human. All the little noises he made that Xavier had seen as adorable quirks were really the quiet rumbles of a very dangerous predator.

Heavy footfalls snapped him out of his thoughts and for a brief instant, his stomach clenched in fear at the idea of being hunted by the approaching dragon. Then suddenly, Joseph was staring at him, his muddy green head flecked with dried blood. However, the birdlike head tilt of curiosity and soft, musical chirp caused some of Xavier’s fear to melt. “I…Sorry. Guess I’m kind of squeamish.”

Joseph stretched before simply laying down with a heavy thump. He really didn’t know what Xavier had expected when he insisted on going with him on a hunt. After a moment he tilted his head to pick at a spot between his teeth with a claw.

“How many damn teeth do you have?” Xavier immediately regretted asking when the dragon suddenly swung his open mouth in front of him so that he could get a very good look. He quickly pressed his back against the rock with a somewhat scared noise at the seemingly endless maw of extremely large ad sharp teeth. Despite his brief moment of fear, the look Joseph gave him caused him to feel like a massive asshole. He had no idea how the other could be so expressive, but he knew he’d hurt some feelings…Especially when he got up. “Wait, Joseph. I’m sorry.”

Feeling frustrated, Joseph looked back to Xavier who’d gotten up to his feet to follow after him. He paused and stared down at the half-elf who seemed to be tiptoeing a bit…And smelled like fear. It left him a bit frustrated since he hadn’t tried to be scary.

“I’m just…You’re deceiving, in a way, as a human. You hide what you are so well and even though I knew what you were I just sort of downplayed it. I was just caught off guard, I think. I can see why you scare people when you’re dealing with them during the dinner rush. It’s also just hard to not be afraid, on a primal level, of someone who can just eat me in a few bites.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. “I think it’s something I’ll have to get used to…Plus I’m sort of thinking over what Senara told me.”

Finally, Joseph laid back down and looked at Xavier expectantly. The other hadn’t told him what Senara had said and he simply assumed that she didn’t know, or he had forgotten to ask. It made him feel slightly concerned that it had taken so long for it to be brought up again.

“Like I keep saying, all her knowledge is about lycans so I don’t know how much of it applies to you. But she said most of it sounds like you’re simply being territorial. Around your age, male lycans will set out on their own to find their own territory. Sometimes they’re adopted by another pack. She doesn’t know if dragons do anything similar, but she said if you were a lycan, you’ve basically found your own territory and have more or less adopted us as your pack…Which is something you already admitted. The bit about wanting to keep us safe sort of concerned her. She made noises about how that’s something alpha, the leader, lycan will do in a pack situation. Which is supposed to take a certain personality that you don’t seem to have, buuuuut…You’re also young and went through a lot of trauma recently.”

Joseph snorted loudly. That seemed to be a trend: him ‘still being young’. Either way, it didn’t really give him much usable information. So, he figured that Senara might be wrong in this case. He finally just shrugged and laid his head down with a quiet rumble. After a moment, he felt Xavier sitting down next to him and leaning back against his shoulder. The half-elf seemed less concerned than he had earlier, so perhaps he’d gotten over his initial shock of things. Regardless, Joseph chose to take his usual post hunting nap.

A sharp jab to his neck caused him to make an irritated rumble and then turn his head to look at Xavier. However, his irritation vanished at the scared look the other had. Looking around, he spotted the pack of rock wolves who’d decided to investigate them. He considered the animals unusually brave as he pushed himself to his feet, a low growl rumbling in his chest. Carefully, he stepped over Xavier so that he stood over him, then glared down at the wolves in front of him.

One of the wolves let out a snarling bark and while likely terrifying to a human, Joseph only felt unimpressed. Rather than snarling or growling back, he roared. The sound was deep, menacing, and would cause even the most fearless, battled hardened adventurer to turn tail…Which was exactly what the wolves did. Lifting his left arm and wing, he tucked his head under his side to made a soft noise as he checked on Xavier.

He felt shaky over the whole thing, but lightly patted the side of Joseph’s muzzle. “I’m ok. It’s getting kind of late, how about we try to find a second antelope for Charlie? Assuming you didn’t scare everything within ten miles with that roar of yours.”

Once Xavier had perched on his back again, Joseph started off. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected his roar to be so loud, but it’d gotten the job done, hadn’t it? Still, Xavier’d been right: it’d be amazing if he hadn’t spooked off all the antelope. Still, he kept a steady pace and frequently scented the air in hopes of catching a whiff of antelope.

It was close to dark when he finally found a herd, and he crouched down to nudge Xavier off his back. Then, he gestured for the other to turn around so he could shift back human. Quickly, he pulled on his pants and boots. “Give me my knife, bow, and an arrow.”

Xavier turned back around and frowned, but did as requested. “Only one?”

“I won’t get a second shot.” He notched the arrow as he started crouch-walking towards the antelope herd. Slowly, but surely, he crept closer. Had he been a dragon, he would have gone for the fat buck on the other side of the herd. He’d have to settle for the somewhat younger buck that was closer to him. Joseph pulled back the bowstring and held it for a moment before he let out a sharp whistle.

The antelope raised their heads and many of them turned slightly, including his target. He let go of the string and faintly heard the thump of it impacting. Getting up, he followed the antelope to where it’d fallen. There, he slit its throat before yelling for Xavier. By the time the half-elf arrived, Joseph had already begun the work of field dressing. “Nice buck, should make some good meals.”

“Gods, that’s disgusting.”

“At least I’m not eating while I work.” This only prompted a further noise of disgust from Xavier, which Joseph laughed at. Once he finished, he hoisted the buck onto his shoulders. “Alright. Let’s go.”

“I’ll be shocked if the guards don’t stop you.”

“Do you really think they’re going to want to mess with a tall fucker, who’s carrying a dead antelope, and is covered in blood like me?”

“…Point.”

When they arrived at the tavern, Charlie went a bit wide eyed. “I was mostly joking about the antelope. I didn’t think you’d actually get one. Here, in the kitchen.”

“I already gutted it and everything for you.” He carefully put the buck on the table. “I killed it with my bow, so you don’t have to worry about dragon drool.”

Charlie laughed at that. “Well, go get yourself cleaned up. I’ll have dinner almost done when you finish. Then you can tell me about your little adventure because Xavier looks traumatized.”

Joseph could only grin at the half elf yelling from the front part of he tavern, “HE WAS ELBOW DEEP IN THE FUCKING THING’S GUTS!”

“I’m going to have to hear this story.” Much like the younger man, Charlie couldn’t help but grin.