Chapter Text
One year later
Sitting in the gardens Umber had to tightly grip that scroll in his talons as a gruff wind blew by. It passed in an instant, leaving the fragrant smell of wild roses in its wake to tickle Umber's nose. He sniffled back a sneeze and let himself relax once the tingling stopped. Sora, however, fell victim to the wind's tricks and released a series of squeaky sneezes, much to Umber's amusement.
Hiding from the heat of the mid-day sun, the sibs were resting beneath the golden foliage of a yellow elm while reading. Yes, reading. Umber had finally learned to read over the past year, even if he wasn't a pro at it yet. The scroll he currently held in his claws was meant for a much younger audience, but it was just perfect for his skill level. Sora was, of course, reading a much fancier scroll of poetry and other fancily worded things.
They had begun their morning in the library, but on a warm, sunny day like today it was impossible to resist the gardens which were crowded with dragons with the same idea. Most, like Umber, had found a comfortable spot to sit and relax, but there were scores of others walking around to admire the plants or chatting with friends. On the far side of the garden Umber could see his own friend, and, as of several months ago, Sora's now girlfriend, Jet, leading one of her tours through the facility. A few meters away to the left Umber recognized Berg, Flame's IceWing friend, as he watered a bed of long-stemmed lilies. He wasn't sure how close they actually were; only that Flame had insisted they were friends so Umber wasn't going to argue. They apparently hung out whenever Flame helped out in the gardens, which wasn't very often since most of the SkyWing's time was sucked up in the kitchens.
In fact, the SkyWing had been helping out in the kitchen so often that the head cook had taken him on as an apprentice. In addition to being trained it was also somewhat of a part-time job, so the scarred dragon was making a little money as well...that went directly to buying more graphicolls and whatever treat he was currently obsessed with. At the moment it was fig tarts.
Umber's ears flicked as a group of several RainWings loudly walked through the gardens, their voices carried by another burst of wind. Umber watched the living mosaics join up with a band of ebony-clad NightWings lounging by the fountain and felt content.
Flame's new job wasn't the only thing that had changed. The Healing Center itself had grown dramatically in just the past few months. After the success of the first year, news of the Center had become wide spread and dragons had come from all corners of Pyrrhia. More patients had arrived, yes, but so too had doctors and volunteers looking to help in any way they could. In addition to the SkyWings there were now a variety of dragons cleaning hallways, setting up activities, and just generally keeping the place running.
It was refreshing, and in a way, Umber felt like he was back at Jade Mountain Academy in those first early days where he had been in awe of all the strange, new dragons around him.
Umber was jolted from his thoughts at the sound of a dragonet laughing. He looked up from his scroll to see a particularly handsome SkyWing was making a scene.
A dozen or so dragon-lengths away, in a small area free of flower beds or trees, Flame sat before a stout little dragonet with shimmering scales that were a blend of deep blues, purples, and reds.
That dragonet was Chromis, Flame's half-brother. Just emerged from his egg the week before, this was the little dragon's first visit away from the nest and the small hybrid had been so excited to meet his big brother he could hardly keep his wings and tail from flopping around – or maybe that was just from lack of coordination. He had the lean body of a SkyWing, but his legs where thick and short like his SeaWing father and small webs ran between his talons.
His whole body was wiggling as Flame held a whicker ball before him. It was a gusty day but the short respite from the wind allowed the brothers' conversation to reach Umber's ears.
"Are you listening, Chro?" Flame asked, using the nickname he'd given the hybrid. "This is super important and I want you to focus. OK, so, you see this ball?" He held out the toy and Chromis nodded, his wide eyes, the same rusty orange as Flame's, narrowing into a scrunched up face of concentration as his listened to his big brother's very important instructions.
"Good. Now, I'm going to throw it and I want you to try and catch it, then throw it back to me. Got it?"
The dragonet stomped all his little feet in anticipation. "YES! I READY!" he yelled with his whole body as it continued to move and dance as if possessed. If Umber had to read the look on Flame's face, he would guess the SkyWing was wondering how the heck something hardly larger than his talon could be so aggressively energetic.
Umber shook his head with a smile. Flame had no idea what he was getting himself into.
Looking more than a little hesitant, Flame took a few steps back and prepared himself to throw. "OK, here it comes." With the smallest of tosses Flame sent the ball flying in a narrow arch that would have landed a mere several feet away. Chromis watched this unfold like his life depended on it, his quivering eyes never once leaving the ball as it came closer and closer, but just before Chromis caught it the wind flew by and snatched it away, carrying it several meters off.
"I'll get it," Flame said and started towards the ball but Chromis stopped him by pouncing on his talons.
"No! Me! I get!"
Swiftly he waddled away like a penguin on a mission, the semi-functional glow-scales running along his neck and back giving little bursts of light with each determined step.
Umber watched the hatchling run up to the ball, his gate slowing as he drew near, but paused. Something in the distance had stolen away the dragonet's attention. Completely forgetting the ball the hatchling shot right past it like an arrow flying from a quiver.
"Chro! Where are you going?" Flame shouted, but by the time he realized what was happening it was too late.
Chromis had spotted a fountain.
If there was one thing Umber had learned about the little dragon since he had met him this morning it was that, if there was any sort of body of water nearby, then you could bet your best wing he would find a way to get in it. And that's exactly what he was doing now.
Luckily (for Chromis, not so much for Flame) the fountain's ledge was low. Chromis latched his front claws over the lip and swung his back leg up, just barely catching the ledge with his foot. He pulled himself up, rolled over the rim, and fell into the water with a soft plunk.
"Fffffffffishcakes!" Flame hissed and bolted towards the fountain.
Umber emitted a chuckle and even Sora giggled as Flame's voice rang out. One of the rules Avalanche had set down before bringing Chromis to meet Flame was that the young SkyWing had to clean up his mouth. The results were a very frustrated Flame and a highly amused everyone else.
Umber watched through eyes soaked from laughter as Flame ran around the fountain, his talons splashing in the water trying to grasp the slippery dragonet only for Chromis to quickly dart away before Flame could reached him.
More colourful yet hatchling-appropriate curses came from the SkyWing before he, too, was in the fountain, flailing around in the shallow bath with water sloshing over the fountain's lip in large gulps. Chromis' delighted shrieks reached Umber's ears and all those within hearing radius, which included a particularly odd pair of dragons resting in the shade of the next tree over. One of the dragons was Avalanche, her eyes flipping open at the sound.
She lifted her head from where it had been resting on her talons, her neck craning high. "I think I hear my sons screaming. Should I do something?" she asked the SeaWing, named Shrimp, resting at her side. The SeaWing had a muscular build that was covered with grass-green scales. His jaw, while well defined, was also crooked. It jutted violently to the left and while it didn't affect his speech much it did make chewing rather troublesome. He had been more than happy, and even a little insistent, to tell Umber the story of how he had apparently broken it as a hatchling and it had never properly healed.
Shrimp didn't look up as he continued to fuss with the messy flower-crown he was assembling from white daisies. "Depends. Are they dying or being horribly mangled?"
Avalanche squinted, still watching the fountain. "No. They're just defacing public property and disturbing the peace."
The male chuckled. "That's all? I'm sure they'll be fine. Now, stay absolutely still." Carefully lifting the barely-held-together crown, he slowly lowered it onto Avalanche's head as if it were the final touch on a masterpiece. "There." He dusted his talons together, admiring the result. "Beautiful as a string of pearls. Now, just don't move ever again."
But she did move. Avalanche's ear twitched as a drooping flower brushed it and the crown of flowers disintegrated, the petals and leaves cascading over her head and unamused face.
Shrimp's shoulders slumped. "Hmm. Sorry, my love. I thought it would stay together that time." He quickly reached to pick the stray flowers from his mate's scales and horns, but she grabbed his wrist and pulled him in, landing a kiss on his cheek.
At that point Umber looked away, feeling embarrassed for having seen that. He tried to put all his focus back into his reading, but he did hear Avalanche say, "You're such a dork."
And Shrimp respond with, "A dork that always wins our sparing matches, might I add."
Whatever rebuttal Avalanche had, Umber never heard. Stomping back towards them was a soggy, soaked, and deeply frowning Flame with a beaming, equally drenched, dragonet tucked under his wing like a sack of potatoes.
"Mama! Did you see? Did you see me!?" Chromis chirped. He wiggled out of Flame's grasp and ran to his mother's opened arms. She picked him up and nuzzled him before setting him back down and sternly reminding him that dragons do not belong in fountains. Meanwhile, Flame staggered over to Umber and collapsed at the MudWing's side, his gaze vacant and wide as if a deep understanding of some arcane truth had finally been realised.
"I don't think I could handle dragonets of my own," he finally rasped, droplets of water beading on his red scales.
Umber released a loud laugh. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I think you have a loooooong ways yet before becoming a father."
With the last of his energy Flame lifted his head towards Umber. "I can barely keep a plant alive. I don't think I can be trusted with anything more demanding than a cactus." His let his head drop back down and sighed as Chromis came galloping over. The only part of Flame's body low enough to climb was his face, so Chromis tossed himself atop Flame's head with gusto.
"We play?" he asked hopefully. Using Flame's lower lip as a step, the small dragon clambered onto Flame's face and began to paw his brother's cheek. "Flam play? he asked again, doing his best to shape out the sounds of Flame's name.
"How about a nap?" Flame offered instead. "Naps are good. We could just lay here and not move or talk."
But Chromis was already bored with the conversation and had begun to precariously scale Flame's body like a cat balancing on a railing...if that cat was a week old dragonet with the grace of a flailing octopus stuck in a tree.
Umber set his scroll down in preparation to catch the hatchling if need be, but Shrimp beat him to it. He snuck up on his son and plucked him off the weary SkyWing.
"Nooooo!" the hatchling wailed, but to no avail. Shrimp held the pouting dragonet up to his face.
"Let's have none of that now. You've been playing with Flame all day and run him ragged. It's time to go home.
"NOOOO!" he cried out again and tried to escape. "Flam! Help!"
Umber helped Flame to his feet and the red dragon gave a tired smile. "Sorry, Chro. Shrimp's word is law."
"Actually Avalanche's word is law. I'm just the messenger," Shrimp corrected and winked at his step-son. Flame responded in kind.
Flame and Shrimp's relationship had started off rather...rocky. They had officially met shortly after Chromis' egg had been laid and, while Flame hadn't been outright hostile, it had been obvious that Shrimp would have to earn the younger dragon's respect and approval.
In the end it was Shrimp's charismatic nature and obvious love of Avalanche that had earned him a spot in Flame's good books. The SeaWing was optimistic and kind, but had a no-nonsense streak about him. It was a sorry dragon indeed who thought he was just another cheery push-over.
And that was why he was completely immune to his son's pleading cries. "Daddy, I wanna stay! I wanna st – " Chromis' complains were cut off by a massive yawn.
"Yeah. That's what I thought," Shrimp quipped just as Avalanche approached. She turned her head to the sky, shielding her eyes with her wing.
"We should head back now if we want to get home by dinner," she said. "You know how Chromis gets when he misses dinner." Her and Shrimp exchanged fearful glances. Nodding in understanding, Shrimp wordlessly went to collect the hatchling-harness still laying in the shade of the tree and prepared the dragonet to leave. Meanwhile Avalanche turned to her elder son.
"You look exhausted," she mused.
Flame snorted. "What a coincidence because that's exactly how I feel."
His mother laughed and pressed her snout to his forehead. "Thanks for watching Chromis for the day, we appreciated the break. See you again in a few weeks... assuming you've recovered by then."
Flame rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. Really. Now go before Chromis escapes his bindings and makes me play another round of tag."
Umber looked up to see Chromis was, indeed, bound. He was strapped to Shrimp's chest and was not happy about it at all. Avalanche gave her son a kiss on the forehead and directed a polite nod to Umber before turning away to join the others. They took off right there in the garden.
"BYE FLAM!" Chromis shouted from the air. Flame waved back with a smile as their forms were swallowed by the clouds. Once gone, he released all the air from his body in a long, shaky sigh.
"Avalanche was right, you do look pretty tired," Sora commented, her worried gaze trailing over Flame. "Maybe you should go lay down for a bit."
"Yeaaaah," Flame agreed. He rubbed the back of his neck, not out of nervousness but rather in a way that seemed to indicate it would be sore tomorrow. "I mean, it was fun playing with him but holy shit! I'm pooped!"
"Ah-ah, watch you're language," Umber teased and flicked his tail over Flame's snout. Flame made a lazy attempt to catch the tail with his teeth before Umber hastily pulled it away.
"Or what? You gonna stop me?" he challenged, the mischievous light of his eyes a dare. Heat rushed to Umber's face and chest while his heart thumped hard. His thoughts turned frisky.
"No, but I might punish you."
Umber took satisfaction as Flame took a step back, stunned, and then took even greater satisfaction at the excited growl the SkyWing returned.
"Ahem!" Not so subtly Sora reminded them of her presence. Umber looked to the ground while Flame coughed is if the sound could hide the pink of his cheeks.
"Ahem, so, anyway," Flame began, "before I go pass out for the next ten days, I actually wanted to talk to you about something." His voice portrayed no emotion, but Umber could detect the faint wobble at its core.
Umber cocked his head. Whatever Flame wanted to discuss it would obviously important, so why was he trying to cover up his emotions? "OK, sure," Umber said and sat down. "What did you wanna talk about?"
Flame's gaze flickered to Sora. "Not now. Not here." He pointed with his tail to an area far past the garden's boundaries, where the river winded through the planes behind a thick wall of bulrushes. "Meet me by the riverbank over there at sunset."
Umber looked back at the spot Flame was pointing at. "Uh...OK? Buuut why are we meeting there?" But Flame never answered. Umber turned around just to see the SkyWing disappear behind a bed of begonias. He sighed.
"That was weird," he spoke to his sister, eager to talk about what could be going on. "Don't you think?"
Umber's suspicions snapped to attention when he saw Sora smile deviously as she struggled to focus on the scroll before her. His eyes slowly narrowed. "What do you know about this?"
Her claws gauged into the paper. "Nothing," she said quickly. Umber didn't buy it. He marched over and stood in front of her, peering down with his most interrogative stare.
"Really? Because that knowing smile tells me otherwise."
"I'm not smiling."
Umber pursed his lips. "Yes – yes you are. I'm looking right at you. I can see the smile."
Slowly she raised the scroll over her mouth, never breaking eye contact. "No you can't," she insisted, although it was more muffled this time. Umber could only laugh and shake his head.
Fine, he thought. Whatever crazy scheme is going on here, I'll just let it happen. Besides, Sora is the master of secret-keeping. I'd be wasting my time.
He picked up his scroll and laid back down, the soft grass felt cool on his underbelly. He tried to go back to reading but his mind kept drifting back to Flame.
What could he be up to this time?
Flame was just cleaning up his workstation as the warm smell of brown-sugar filled his nose and mouth. The cookies would be ready any minute now.
Sore and tired as he was from his day with Chromis, Flame still had his duties in the kitchen to complete. The head chef kept him busy since he was technically an apprentice now or whatever.
Still, Flame couldn't complain (although he did anyway). He loved cooking so this was pretty much everything he had ever wanted, even if the head chef pushed him hard, he knew it was pay off in the end when he became the best chef in all Pyrrhia!
Maybe he'd start his own restaurant or something. Although he wasn't completely sure that's what he wanted. Having a restaurant meant owning a business and staying in one place and a lot of other boring stuff that came with it.
But, he had time to figure it out. For now, though, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
Flame peek into the oven to see how his goods were faring. His expert cookie-analysing eye determined they were ready and he put on an oven mitt to take them out. While they cooled, he began to mentally prepare himself.
Today was the day.
He was ready for a serious relationship now and was going to ask Umber to be his official boyfriend. His heart thundered at the idea.
This past year had been one of the best in his life and Umber had played no small role in that happiness. Without his permission a smile crept along his mouth as he thought back on all they had done together. All the crazy shenanigans they'd gotten into and times they'd stayed up all night talking and the nights they had stayed up doing... other things.
Their relationship, while not perfect, had certainly grown stronger. Even while knowing this, it had still been a shock the day Flame came to understand just how strong his feelings for Umber were.
They had been sitting in Flame's room one autumn morning, tails entwined as the sun came in through the window to brush away the chill. Flame's head had been resting on Umber's chest as he listened to the MudWing ramble on about the different types of hot-leaf juice that he liked so much. Flame had looked up at Umber, ready to tease him about something, but was forced into silence as his breath was whisked away. The filtering sunglow on Umber's smiling face had set his soul spiraling into a blaze, as if the Universe had reach out and said this is where you belong; this is where you've always belonged.
At that moment he knew: he was in love with Umber.
And today, he was going to tell him so.
Umber had been so patient and supportive this past year, letting Flame develop himself and improve, not rushing their relationship or making Flame feel guilty for focusing on his problems first. He knew Umber would wait another ten years if Flame asked, but that wouldn't be necessary. Flame knew, in his own eyes, he would never be good enough for Umber, but his heart had always belonged to the MudWing anyways, so it was about time he told him.
Finally, there would be no more uncertainty or guessing. No more awkward glances when dragons asked if they were dating or a couple. He was ready to make the commitment. Of course, he had connived with Jet and Sora about the most romantic way to go about it. The two females had sworn an oath to secrecy and had set Flame on the path of cheesy-romance-scroll level love confession.
Even if Umber was a big sap, Flame wasn't so sure he was that big of a sap. In the end Flame decided to just go with what he felt was right.
And sure, a confession by a riverbank at sunset seemed romantic, but it was the most private place he could think of, and the sunset part was to give him time to get his work done and finish the cookies which were, by now, perfectly cooled.
He carefully placed them into a small, cloth bag and tied a ribbon around the opening. It was almost sunset, but there was one other place he had to visit before seeing Umber. Deciding he'd clean up the rest of his mess later – if he remembered – Flame tucked the bag of cookies under his wing and left the kitchen.
On the third floor of the Center Building, next to the cooking classroom where Flame had first baked that apple pie with Umber, was the art room. Inside he found just the dragon he was looking for: Stonemover.
The bedraggled NightWing had arrived just last month. It had taken nearly a year to convince the stubbornly terrified dragon to leave Jade Mountain, but after countless visits from Zephyr and Starf, as well as meetings with other animus and Sunny, they had managed to talk him into it; but it had come at a price.
He was no longer an animus. By his own talons he had removed his stone-scaled curse and then his own powers. It had been the only thing keeping him in his prison, and once free of his fear of becoming a monster, the trembling and weak NightWing had been carried out of the mountain after spending eight years in that cave.
Transporting him to the Healing Center had been no easy task either. Three dragons had been needed to carry the basket/hammock thing with Stonemover inside, but now, he was here.
His lean body was hunched before an easel facing the window, the sun framing the shape of his back and limbs as Flame stuck his head through the door. He was painting the sunset, or trying to at least. The large dragon's limbs creaked and moaned like a dragon three times older. The SkyWing winced as Stonemover brought his paintbrush towards the canvas, his talons shaking violently; a side-effect of not using them for nearly a decade. With his other talon Stonemover grabbed his wrist to try and steady the brush, his brow furrowed in frustration, but before he touched the canvas a pair of lavender talons enfolded themselves around his claws, removing the brush from his hand.
The pair of talons had come from the RainWing sitting at his side whose name Flame could never remember. He knew it started with a 'B'...probably.
He DID know she was a new volunteer here and was some sort of dancer or something. That's was why she had been paired up with Stonemover, to help him regain coordination and strength...although the two had been spending a lot of time together outside of their strength training sessions.
"I think it's time for a break," she murmured, messaging circles into Stonemover's palm. Her voice was soft as petals with green eyes that warmed the room like a hearth. Flame watched the NightWing's tense shoulders relax and brow unfurrow. Flame figured if he wanted to talk to Stonemover he'd better say something now before things escalated past talon holding.
"Uh, hi here," he spoke up and walked into the room. The two dragons looked up and Stonemover smiled.
"Ah, Flame, good to see you," he welcomed and cleared off a nearby chair that had his painting palate resting atop. He patted the seat. "Come. Sit. You can tell me about your day while I paint Pyrrhia's wobbliest sunset."
The RainWing tutted at the self-mocking comment. "Be patient with yourself. It takes time to heal. Plus, I doubt it helps that you're pushing yourself so hard. Just saying."
The NightWing curled his lips into a half-smile. He placed a handful of dirty paintbrushes into an even dirtier cup of water. "But I want to push myself. I want to expand my limits, to remember what it means to live." His voice bubbled with giddiness and the RainWing no longer seemed able to bring herself to argue. Instead she smiled wistfully.
"I'm actually on my way to do something, so I'll sit with you another time," Flame said. He took out the bag from under his wing. "I just wanted to drop off some cookies."
He knew Stonemover didn't need the cookies, but he guess he still felt bad about all the trouble he had caused the NightWing in the past. He just wanted the guy to know he was glad to have him here and that he wanted to be friends.
"Cookies?" The RainWing perked up, her eyes honing in on the bag like a hawk swooping down on its prey.
Stonemover chuckled and rested the tip of his tail on her shoulder. "Blossom, you've already had three pieces of cake today. Don't you think you maaaaaay be consuming a bit too much sugar? You'll get cavities."
She brushed off this tail and concerns. "Don't worry; I ate some vegetables today so I'm pretty sure it balances itself out."
Stonemover frowned. "Yes. Surely."
Flame withheld a smirk. Even though he could barely remember her name at times, he did recall seeing her around the grounds when she'd first arrived, lean as a willow branch. Now, after several months of filling up on breads, pastas, and sweets from the cafeteria, her shape had filled out quite a bit.
Not that it mattered to her...or Stonemover.
The black dragon took the sag of sweets with a grateful bow. "Well, thank you for the treats. I'll make sure to have some before Blossom eats them all." He winked at the RainWing who pretended to be offended.
Flame couldn't stay long but he did engage in a polite amount of small-talk, inquiring about Sunny's visit a few days ago and how it had gone. Since the counsellor program at Jade Mountain had begun, the SandWing hybrid had become a frequent visitor to the Center, whenever she could get away from her teaching duties that is. She was here at least several times a month. Flame still felt super weird every time he ran into her in the hallways.
Seeing the sun touching the horizon through the window, Flame bid them a quick farewell and headed back downstairs to the cafeteria. He was glad Stonemover was settling in. Even though he hadn't been here long there had already been a major change to the NightWing's disposition. He hardly sighed at all now! And more often than not the old dragon could be found with a small smile plastered along his face rather than the previously common hopeless frown.
Of course, not that any of that surprised Flame. Obviously being outside in the sun and not in some dank old cave would improve anyone's mood.
The red dragon stepped onto the soft lawn of the gardens, picking through the lounging dragons, gardeners, and flower beds until he found a worn down path through the tall grass that lead to the riverbank.
His heart hiccupped at the sight of Umber sitting by the reeds, or rather, among the reeds. The smaller dragon had finagled himself into the tangle of plants and ferns that burrowed into the muddy banks, his own brown scales blending in perfectly with the fauna.
Flame let out a nasally laugh as he approached. "Trying to hide from me, huh?"
The MudWing looked over his shoulder and grinned. With talons clumped in mud and muck he crawled up the slope to greet Flame.
"Well you weren't very specific when you said 'meet me at sunset', so I came early just in case and well, there was a bunch of mud and me, being a MudWing and all, I don't think I need to explain what happened next."
"Nah, I figured it out," Flame said. With a nudge of his wing Flame prompted Umber to follow him as they walked along the riverbank, tails twisted together.
Flame directed the conversation towards small talk. He asked about Umber's day and what he had done and if he was enjoying his scroll. Meanwhile his heart pounded in anticipation. He wanted to say it right now, but he had to wait. It needed to be said at just the right moment.
Flame figured he would know the moment when it came. Hopefully. Until then he just had to be patient, something Flame had never been all that good at. But as they continued their walk, an unexpected punch of nervousness hit his stomach. He slowly inhaled. Be cool. Don't freak out. You've waited a year for this, what's five more minutes? In the span of a few steps his stomach settled again and he breathed in relief before tuning back in to what Umber was saying.
"Sora and I got a letter from Clay today," Umber recounted to Flame. "He's been trying to get all the sibs together for a visit."
"Uh-huh. That's nice," Flame spoke. Wait for the right time, don't mess this up! It has to be perfect! Just keep your cool and don't do anything dumb.
"OH! Also, a new tea shop opened downtown!" Umber beamed. "They even had orange rooibos! Which is my favourite, so, of course, I bought a whole bunch and even got a discount – " Umber's sentence trailed away in his ears as Flame struggled more and more.
Keep it together, Flame! This needs to be romantic! The sun's nice and low. All I need to do now is figure out a way to ease the conversation towards a relevant topic...
" – and then I realized I had no place to put all the bags so I had to rearranged the WHOLE cabinet, but it turned out great because now everything is so neat and tidy and – "
"UMBER, I LOVE YOU!" Flame shouted, his words stumbling over each other in their race out of his lungs. All around the world stilled to silence. Umber's had stopped walking as well, his mouth frozen mid-speech, the amber flecks in his eyes shivering.
Flame blinked. Well shit. Not exactly how I imaged it happening but might as well keep the momentum going. He straightened his back, trying to channel the confidence that was quickly fleeting.
"I-I should have said it sooner but, you know, I suck at feelings and stuff." He watched Umber carefully as he spoke, not in fear of seeing hesitation or rejection or anything. He just wanted to savour this moment. He wanted every second woven into his mind in vivid detail like a tapestry. He took hold of Umber's mud-caked talons, the MudWing still watching him wordlessly. "I know it took me a while to get to his point, and even though I doubt I'll ever be good enough, I'm not going to make you wait around for me anymore. I love you, and I'm ready to be everything you want me to be." Flame took a breath. He brought his head forward and brushed his snout along Umber's jaw. "I'm ready for us to be mates or boyfriends or whatever you want to call it; just as long as we're together. That's the only thing I want."
A heartbeat of silence passed before the sound of choke sniffles began to escape Umber's throat. Flame reared back to see what was wrong and found the MudWing wiping tears from his eyes, a hard contrast to the heart-bursting smile that stretched his lips.
"You idiot," he laughed through the weak sobs. "You're so much more than good enough."
Love pooled in Flame's chest and overflowed to fill his whole body. He pulled Umber into a wing-tight hug, their snouts bumping together until their foreheads touched. "You're such a sap, Umber. I didn't mean to make you cry." He kissed the MudWing's cheek and, feeling his own eyes begin to leak, tried to joke away the bursting tightness of his throat. "Also, since when do you call dragons idiots? Where did you learn such rude language?"
Umber cast his weepy eyes upwards to fix Flame with a not-so-subtle smirk. "Hmm, gee, I don't know. It's not like I spend the majority of my time with a dragon who knows more insults and swears than a SeaWing sailor or anything."
Flame decided to ignore the blatant accusation. "It's Jet, isn't it? She's a bad influence on you."
Umber had to push away from the hug as he doubled over into a fit of giggles. When he caught his breath, he reached out and pulled Flame's head towards his own in a kiss. But it didn't end there. Their bodies melting at the touch, they were soon knotted together on the ground as the space between them disappeared into heat and friction.
It continued to escalate until Flame won the dominate position, but that victory was short lived. Gasping for air the two had to break apart to catch their breath. Umber glowed blissfully beneath him; he shook his head and kissed Flame's snout. "How did I fall in love with such an idiot?"
Flame barked a laugh. "Great question. How did you fall for me?"
Umber's face turned wolfish. "Oh, maybe I'll tell you...if you can catch me."
Flame's brow creased. "But...I already have you – AAACK!" he shriek as a wad of mud connected with his temple. Umber wiggled out from beneath him, laughing maniacally. Without realizing it they had rolled closer to the riverbank and well into the mud and bulrushes. Flame scrambled to his feet as Umber darted away, gathering a hefty clump of mud in his talons while doing so. He chucked it at the fleeing MudWing only to have it miss completely, but that was a minimal detail. With his body brimming with mischief, and a grin that showed it, the SkyWing grabbed another talon-full of mud and began his pursuit, but Umber was ready for him.
Before Flame could react another ball of mud hit him square in the chest. He narrowed his eyes. Oh, it was on now.
The war raged well after the sun was swallowed by the horizon and far into the night until finally, tired, breathless, and covered snout to tail in mud, they decided to call a truce.
The chill of the river alleviated some of their weariness as they paused to rinse off before making their way back, following the star-lit paths that whispered and shushed in the breeze. Umber went with Flame to his room and they collapsed in the bed. Umber fell asleep instantly, but Flame remained awake for a while longer, his mind buzzing like a fly stuck at a windowsill.
He thought of Chromis and his mother, of the several cakes he had to make tomorrow, of what he was going to get Starf for his birthday next week, but mostly his thoughts were tangled around the snoring dragon next to him.
He didn't know if he believed Umber when he had said Flame was good enough, but the words had given him hope. Right now he might not be, but, someday, he would. They had their whole lives ahead of them after all. Lives they would spend together doing lots of awesome things like cooking and fishing dragonets out of fountains and saving animus dragons and defeating the hordes of undead zombies brought to life by Lord Evil...
Even in his semi-lucid state Flame paused. That last one...didn't quite seem right and he was beginning to wonder if maybe he was getting a bit loony from exhaustion.
Sighing, Flame shuffled closer to Umber, draping a wing over his mate's bulky form. A rush of giddiness passed over him at the thought. His mate and boyfriend Umber. They were an official couple now! It made Flame's heart sing when he remembered how happy Umber had been this afternoon when he had told him. He played the scene over and over in his head. He would never get sick of it.
Although he still hadn't gotten that answer from Umber on how he had fallen for Flame, but maybe it didn't matter. He had Umber's love and promised to never take it for granted.
In fact, he had a lot of love in his life now, more than he would have ever imagined having over a year ago. Flame smiled at himself. The Flame he was a year ago would have called the Flame he was now a big, mushy looser. And Hell, maybe he was, but he was a happy, mushy looser.
As he ran past the memories of the day over and over again his heavy eyelids began to flutter close. The buzzing of his mind sputtered out and his senses honed in on Umber's steady breathing. In his final moments of consciousness he wrapped his body around Umber's, and then sleep took him, a smile still on his face as he dreamed of tomorrow and all the days to come.
THE END