Blue Dragon

The winds whipped by him, lifting him up and tossing him about in heedless abandon, their fierce fury bending wood and wave to their might as the late winter squall lashed its unpredictable force against the world below. Though he knew the sun had not yet set, the thick black stormclouds overhead made the world below as black as night. It was not an hour for creatures of the earth to be out and about.

Glesyn, however, was not exactly a creature of the earth. If anything, he was a creature of the wind, of the sky, who occasionally spent time on the ground to rest. He loved to be aloft, feeling the air beneath his wings as he rose on currents and dove from dizzying heights, but nothing was quite as wild and exciting and untamed as an early spring squall when winter had not quite released the world from its grip and yet spring was still beginning to make its presence known.

This was his time. The time when he could fly without fear, without worry. When he could dance among the clouds and the winds obeyed his every desire. When those on the ground, those few unlucky ones still outside in the tempest, spent all their focus trying to stay on their feet. No one had any reason to look up and see Glesyn high overhead, playing freely in the storm. No one need ever know there was a dragon living nearby.

Giddy on the feeling of freedom, Glesyn reached out with his magic to stir the winds up further, exalting in the way they threw his serpentine body across the skies. It was the perfect time to be alive.

Help me!

Startled, Glesyn tumbled head over tail into a sharp gust of wind, pumping his wings hard to regain his equilibrium. Just about the time he managed to get himself straightened out the cry came again.

Anyone! Help me!

More than a little confused, Glesyn looked around him, seeing no one. Though he didn't know how he could have heard much of anything over the sound of the storm, he dropped lower in the sky, searching. Everything looked normal... as normal as land and sea could be in the middle of a storm, anyway.

Please! Ow!

Diving sharply toward... something... Glesyn caught a flash of paleness in the dark. He dipped through the winds, following the pale thing as it hurled down the sharp side of a mountain at speeds that seemed far too rapid for an earthbound creature.

Then he realized he was looking at a river, one of the sharp ones that carried rainwater from the higher elevations down to the sea, and the white thing must have gotten caught up in its current. He winced. If that pale thing was still alive, it was most likely in incredible pain.

Banking his dive, Glesyn followed the path of the river as best he could, dodging trees and outcroppings as he attempted to get close enough to the pale thing to fetch it from the water. He'd just managed to get one claw wrapped around it when the wind gusted sharply, hurling him into a jagged protrusion of rock, and he howled in pain as bones snapped and the fragile skin of his wing tore.

He fell like a stone into the river, every movement of the current sending agony through his body as it jostled his broken wing back and forth. Overhanging trees reached out with spindly branches to catch hold, tearing new and wider holes in his already-bleeding skin. Desperate, he made the shift back to his smaller form, wrapping around the pale thing he'd caught and attempting to shelter it from the worst of the obstacles as best he could. At least with a smaller body he wasn't hitting quite so many of them himself.

The thing in his arms struggled feebly, but there didn't seem to be much life left in it at all. Glesyn called to the winds, trying to ask them to slow their passage, but the strength of the water was too much, too fast, and the power in the storm was too much for him to calm when he ached in every part of his body. All he could do was ride it out and hope it didn't kill him.

Then the river gathered speed, hurling them forward into the dark, faster and faster, until suddenly the water was gone. Glesyn had a brief moment to think as the air rushed around him, the earth pulled him down, a distant roar in his ears - a waterfall! - and then he hit the sea hard enough that his breath was driven from his lungs and it was all he could do to struggle back to the surface, still clutching the pale thing he'd tried to rescue.

There was rain all around, splashing into the water and kicking it up into the air, making it hard to breathe. He wished he could risk changing back to his large form, but the ache in his shoulder would become a blinding agony were he to do something so foolish. All he could do was hold on tight and hope they didn't go under.

He thought he might have heard something, seen something, but it was hard to see, hard to think, buffeted all around by the storm. He went under once and managed to kick his way back up to the surface. The second time he struggled, his strength flagging, the water closing in all around him and pulling him down.

The last thing he remembered before the darkness claimed him was a pale golden cloud in the water, wrapping him up in its embrace.

Awareness was slow to return. The first coherent thought Glesyn had was that he rather felt he ought to hurt more than he did, as bits and snatches of the evening's wild ride came back to him. He cracked one eye open, confused to note that it was not at all salt-encrusted as he'd expected, though he could still smell the sea quite clearly.

The first thing he saw was wooden planks worked quite smoothly together and forming what he realised after a moment was an odd-looking ceiling. A slight shift of his head brought more of the room into view, all of it that same elegant woodworking, and rather sparsely furnished with rope and barrels and other things he had no words for. But the strangest sight came when he attempted to sit up and discovered that something was holding him down. That something being a warm, living body.

Glesyn froze. All his life his mother had warned him against letting others too close, letting them know that he was not one of them. He was a dragon and, with the death of his mother after an accident several winters back, the only dragon that he knew of. Yet now somehow he was in bed he'd never seen before with someone he didn't know, and from what he could tell completely naked.

Which meant his scales were showing.

Wincing, Glesyn managed to shift one arm enough to peek under the thick blanket, confirming that yes, he was naked, and yes, his scales were quite obvious. Well, that was problematic.

The person that was lying just enough on him to prevent him from sitting up also appeared to be naked, though he - Glesyn checked briefly, yes, he - didn't have any scales. He didn't seem to have much of anything, really. His skin was so pale it seemed almost white, and his tangled hair really was white. As white as the snow that covered the northernmost islands during the winter season that was just now ending. That was strange. He'd never seen an all-white human before.

This, perhaps, was what he'd tried to rescue from the river. The coloration was certainly right, though he rather recalled the white person being more dressed before...

Glesyn checked again. Nope, still naked. Although, given that he remembered falling into the sea and now he was in a wooden room of some sort, anything seemed to be equally possible. He just wished he knew where he was, and how he'd gotten there, and better yet, how to get home.

Wherever home was.

Burying the sudden panic that arose in him at the thought, Glesyn concentrated on nothing but breathing, in and out, until he felt rather more stable than he'd been a moment ago. He made a brief attempt at wriggling out from underneath the white man, giving up when the man made a quiet, unhappy sound.

So he was stuck. And there didn't really seem to be anything much to look at, except for the white man, and even then it was hard to really see anything with all that tangled hair everywhere. Probably the result of the ride down the river, and he suspected his own hair wasn't looking all that presentable either, though that could be fixed simply by shifting to his large form and back again. Benefits to being a dragon and all.

And speaking of his large form, Glesyn blinked as he realized that all his wriggling hadn't really caused him any pain. He'd been certain he'd have bruises and scrapes from his own ride down the river and over that waterfall, not to mention his broken wing. But there was only the faint ache here and there, and a dull one in his shoulder that really should have been considerably worse than it was.

Which meant... what? Someone had healed him? His mother hadn't liked to speak of humans much, but what little he had managed to glean had seemed to indicate that there were some capable of such a feat. That had to be it. They were much too far from where his mother had told him the other dragons and their Wind Lord resided.

So there was a human with magic around, who had healed him enough that he didn't hurt much at all, and since there didn't seem to be any bruises or obvious marks on the white man's skin the magic-human had probably healed him as well, which meant... what?

Humans were very tricky things. They were very good at telling lies and getting you to lower your guard, then forcing you to do all kinds of terrible things. His mother had warned him, over and over again, never to get too close to humans. You never knew just what they were up to. But Glesyn had watched them carefully, from a distance, and not all of them had seemed bad. Some seemed rather pleasant, if odd. He could only hope that the magic-wielding one was of the latter sort.

He was still, however, quite bored, with a severely limited number of options available to him. He didn't particularly want to wake up the white person, and there wasn't really anything in reach to play with, other than the white person.

Or, he amended, other than the white person's hair. And it was rather tangled, so maybe he wouldn't get in too much trouble for fidgeting if he made himself useful at the same time and worked out the tangles.

Decision made, Glesyn carefully shifted enough to free both hands and chose a tangled clump of hair at random, threading his long blue nails through the strands until he'd worked the tangles out of a finger's length worth of it. He took his time, not wanting to wake the white person, focusing diligently on his task. He'd gotten up fairly close to the white person's head when his own tiny motions caused the fall of white hair to shift, exposing part of the white person's face and one ear.

Glesyn held his breath as two things struck him at once. One, that the white person was beautiful, with sharp, elegant features that he'd never encountered before in his life. The other was that the white man's ear tapered to a fine point. Which was not in any way a human ear. Humans had short, round ears. This was more dragon-ish in height, but made from skin rather than fin.

He blinked. So, the white man wasn't human either. What did that mean?

Tentatively he prodded at that slim, pointed ear, somehow disappointed when it didn't do anything. The disappointment only managed to last for a few moments, however, before the white man scrunched up his nose, made a funny soft sound, and opened his eyes.

Which were green. Bright, vivid green like new leaves just beginning to unfurl, the very edges a touch darker, like older leaves that had survived the changing seasons and were still growing strong. They seemed dazed at first, as disoriented as Glesyn had felt upon first waking, then they focused and widened before the green-eyed white man scrambled to his hands and knees and as far away from Glesyn as the confines of the bed would allow.

Who? What? The white man's lips parted and he chewed at one worriedly even as he stared at Glesyn.

Glesyn closed one eye, then the other, then sat up to properly examine the skittish man. Still too pretty to be human, especially with those so-bright eyes, and... he blinked as he realized the white man's lips had never moved when he'd spoken. So how then had Glesyn heard him? Or had that been his imagination? But now that he thought about it, he really hadn't heard the cry for help during the storm at all. It had been like this time, heard but not-heard. How strange.

The white man grimaced and held a hand to his forehead. You're giving me a headache. He paused, then his eyes flew open again. Wait... you can hear me? I can hear you He grimaced again. You're loud.

"Loud?" Glesyn echoed, frowning. "I haven't even said anything."

The white man waved a hand at him, his brow still furrowed. Your thoughts are loud. Though why I can hear them at all, I don't know. It only works on animals... or so I'd always thought.

Glesyn blinked, his frown deepening. "I am not an animal," he said indignantly.

Obviously, the white man retorted. Your thoughts are too complex. He blinked, then looked oddly thoughtful. Though not as complex as a human's. Those are completely impossible...

Glesyn resisted the impulse to snort, merely crossing his arms in irritation. He wasn't an animal, but he wasn't a human either.

I didn't say you were! the white man snapped, then grimaced and held his head in his hands. Ow.

"What's ow?" Glesyn asked, eyeing the strange white man warily. "You don't look injured..."

My head is ow, the white man retorted, dropping his hands down to the edge of the bed for balance while he squirmed off of it, promptly falling over in a heap as soon as he let go.

The floor moves!

Glesyn blinked, then considered. Now that the white man had pointed it out, the entire room did seem to be rocking slightly. That was peculiar. He slid out of bed as well, making certain to cling to the edge of the bed until he was fairly certain he could remain standing before letting go. He wobbled a little, but was quite pleased to manage to stay upright.

The white man shot him a dark look and managed to regain his own feet, still clinging to the bed. He remained there a moment before returning his attention to Glesyn, leaf-green eyes first narrowing, then widening before his cheeks acquired the only color he'd had so far. You're naked.

Glesyn looked down at himself. "Yes, I am."

There was a faint sound much like a squeak from the white man, who let go of the bed to cover himself with his hands. I'm naked!

"Yes," Glesyn agreed, deciding that the little pouch on a thin strip of cord around the white man's neck didn't count as clothing. "Though you weren't when I tried to fish you out of the river. I think whoever brought us here took off your wet clothes." He peered around a bit, finally spying two small bundles folded neatly on the floor. They looked like... yes they were. Two sets of clothing, one smaller than the other. Pleased, Glesyn held out the smaller set to the white man, who yanked it out of his hands and promptly unbalanced himself, crashing hard to the floor.

Thinking to himself that the white man might be pretty but he was also rather irritable, Glesyn propped himself against the edge of the bed and maneuvered the borrowed clothing on. It was very plain, though clean, and managed to cover all of his scales. Though not his hair or his ears, and there didn't seem to be anything for him to wrap around those to hide them.

Then again, whoever had left the clothing for them (and most likely removed the wet clothing from the white man) had very likely already seen Glesyn's features anyway, so he wasn't sure why he was concerned. Learned paranoia, probably. His mother had been rather insistent on never showing his draconic traits to others.

He looked down to note that the white man had managed to scramble into his own borrowed clothing and was making faces, though whether at the clothes or if he was still hearing Glesyn's thoughts was unclear. When Glesyn held out a hand to help him up he batted it away, scowling, and once more clung to the bed as he hauled himself up.

His clothing fit him a bit better than Glesyn's did. While the pants and sleeves were long enough for his tall frame, everything seemed otherwise to be a bit on the big side, to the point where the pants kept trying to slip off his hips. The white man had no such difficulties that Glesyn could discern.

"If you're done falling down," Glesyn said slowly, "I want to go see where we are." He made his way cautiously to the only door he could see, pleased to note that he was having less trouble staying vertical than he had been before, grasping the door handle and pulling it open.

"Oh." An average sized human, which is to say shorter than Glesyn, with black hair pulled back into a loose tail blinked at him. "You are awake." The human peered around him into the room, spotting the white man. "Both of you. Good." He stepped back, allowing Glesyn access to the narrow hallway he could see beyond. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you up to see the Captain."

Glesyn blinked at him, then twisted around to blink at the white man (who was still clinging to the bed) and shrugged. "Okay." He took one step out into the hallway and stopped, turning around again.

No, I do not need help, the white man snapped. I can walk just fine. To prove it he shoved away from the bed, making it all of two steps before toppling over.

The human laughed. "Don't have your sea legs yet, I see. Give it a couple of days. For now, just hang on to the wall." He waited until the white man was back on his feet before leading the way through narrow, dimly-lit halls and up a flight of stairs, emerging into bright sunlight. Glesyn, who had been mentally comparing the balance needed to walk on the unsteady floors to flying in a storm (and getting glared at by the white man for it) stopped dead in his tracks and stared all around.

"It's a boat!"

The human laughed again. "Ship, actually. Boats are smaller. This way." He led them to a door, smiling tolerantly at Glesyn's gawking, and knocked once before opening it and stepping inside. Glesyn followed, blinking a few times to readjust his eyes after the vivid sunlight.

"Ohhh..." he breathed. Where to look first? So many colors and patterns and sparkling things, most of which he'd never seen before in his life. Sweeping fabric and little objects and elaborately-made furnishings, they made his head spin.

"Are they all right?" a warm voice asked curiously, and Glesyn finally realized there was a person in there amongst all the beautiful things.

It wasn't really all that surprising that Glesyn had missed him the first time, considering that he was just about as breathtaking to look at as everything else. He had pale golden hair that cascaded down his shoulders to his waist in rippling waves and eyes like the sea at its shallowest points. At first he didn't appear to be wearing anything at all, but as Glesyn got closer he could see a hint of brightly-colored fabric wrapped around the man's waist, partially obscured by the heavy wooden desk he was seated behind.

Something about that hair nagged at him, and he leaned forward over the desk to inspect it more closely. Very fine, very pale, though not as pale as the white man's. It also seemed to be arranged wrong. It needed to be... different. Determined to solve his dilemma, Glesyn collected handfuls of white-gold hair and lifted it this way and that, trying to figure out how it was supposed to look.

Behind him, someone started laughing, and it finally occurred to Glesyn that humans probably had some sort of rule about not touching others' hair. Or maybe it was just his proximity. He dropped the handfuls of hair and stepped back, watching the golden-haired man's face.

Fortunately, he seemed amused. "Does my hair offend you?" he asked cheerfully.

Glesyn shook his head. "No," he said, frowning, "It's just... wrong."

The blond man looked surprised. "Wrong?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

Frustrated, Glesyn shook his head again. "It's not... it's just..."

"Oh!" the darker human exclaimed softly, eyes going wide. "I think he saw you, Nae."

"Saw..." the blond man repeated blankly, then his own eyes widened before crinkling up with amusement. "Oh. Well, yes, hair does tend to look a bit different underwater," he said cheerfully.

"Underwater?" Glesyn repeated, but it was a new voice who answered.

"You are the one who rescued us from the sea."

Confused, Glesyn turned, but there was no one else in the room with them. Just himself, the blond human, the dark human, and...

His eyes widened. "You can talk!"

The white man snorted. "When dealing with others, such methods of communication are generally required." He shot Glesyn a look. "And they do not make my head hurt."

Glesyn scowled. "I don't do it on purpose," he muttered.

Before the white man could respond to that, the blond one spoke up again. "Why does he make your head hurt?" he asked.

The white man eyed him, then looked away. This time it was Glesyn's turn to snort. "He talks in my head. But I'm not an animal, so apparently it hurts."

"Talks in your head?" the darker-haired human repeated, sounding rather startled. "How?"

"That is what I would like to know," the white man muttered. "It usually only works on simple creatures." He glared at Glesyn again, as if this was all somehow his fault.

"Interesting," the blond man said cheerfully before they could continue arguing. "What sort of creature are you, then, to converse with animals and whatever our blue friend here is?" he asked, waving a hand at Glesyn.

The white man scowled. "That is none of your business," he retorted, and for once Glesyn had to agree. Bad enough that they knew he wasn't human, but he wasn't about to let humans know about dragons. Even if this one had rescued them from the sea.

The blond man blinked, looking between them both slowly, then he shook his head and smiled. "You have nothing to fear from me," he said gently. "I am not human either."

That startled the white man into peering at him more closely, but Glesyn had already been quite close and the blond man had certainly seemed human enough to him.

"Right," the blond man said in mild exasperation. "Why doesn't anyone ever believe me the first time?" He got up from his chair and came around the desk, giving Glesyn a much better view of the bright fabric that was wrapped around his waist and knotted at one hip. It swung freely, like a dress, but it didn't really look like a dress, nor was it quite the right shape, and he was so busy trying to figure out what the blond man was wearing that he didn't really notice when the man sprawled out on a brightly-decorated bed until the man... changed.

Glesyn blinked. "You're a fish."

The blond man, who was now only half a man (the other half being a fish), laughed. "Yes and no." He rippled oddly, then was back to all-man, sliding off the bed and walking back toward them. "I am of the Merfolk."

Glesyn checked over his shoulder to make certain he wasn't the only one feeling adrift at the moment. The white man looked about as lost as he was, while the darker human just seemed amused.

"Um," Glesyn said, turning back to the blond fish-man, "Is that a type of fish?"

The fish-man stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. Behind him, Glesyn could hear the dark human do the same. He felt very confused, because his mother's instructions had never included fish people and strange white things that talked in his head, and he really wasn't sure if he was still supposed to be wary of them or if they were safe or much of anything. It was all so confusing.

"I, oh, oh my." The fish man caught his breath slowly, azure eyes bright. "All right, why don't we start over." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Naefindan, Nae for short, and I'm one of the merfolk that live out in the western expanse. I ran away from home quite a few years ago and built my own ship, the one you're on, and now I'm Captain. That," he waved his free hand at the dark-haired human, "Is Torhle. He's my Supercargo and my lover." Nae winked.

Glesyn looked at the dark human, who was blushing, then back to Nae, and carefully accepted the offered hand. "My name is Glesyn." He hesitated, then exhaled slowly. "I'm a dragon."

Nae blinked at him, then at his ears, then back at his face again. "I thought dragons were supposed to be bigger," he said finally.

Behind him, he could hear the human, Torhle, snicker. Glesyn shrugged. "I am bigger, but this is my small form."

"Oh?" Nae looked intrigued. "What does your bigger form look like?"

Glesyn gestured with his hands. "Bigger. Too big to fit on your boat. Ship."

Nae's eyes widened. "Oh. In that case, small is better."

"Dragon," the white man said suspiciously. "What is a dragon?"

"A dragon is a dragon," Glesyn answered, confused.

Torhle chuckled quietly. "In the old legends of the east, a dragon is a giant winged lizard with breath of fire." He eyed Glesyn in amusement. "So far, I'd say that isn't remotely accurate, unless you look a lot different in your bigger form."

Glesyn nodded. "Yes. I have wings..." He considered. "I guess maybe I look a little bit like a lizard, but my scales are much more attractive." He pushed up one sleeve to make sure they were still there, and still the proper bright gleaming blue that they were supposed to be. No dumb lizard ever had such magnificent scales.

The white man snorted again. "A giant lizard. I suppose that explains why I can hear you, then, though I wish I couldn't."

Glesyn turned toward him, frowning, but before he could do more than open his mouth Torhle was speaking.

"I think I know what you are," he said, making the white man blink. "I'm originally from the northern islands, and we have legends of our own..." He smiled slowly. "You're one of the People of the Forest, aren't you?"

The white man opened his mouth, then shut it again and turned away from him. Torhle laughed, while Naefindan snickered.

"Thought so," Torhle said in amusement.

Glesyn blinked. "People of the Forest?" he asked.

"One of many idiotic names given by people who do not know what they are talking about," the white man groused, one hand reaching up to touch the little pouch hanging around his neck.

"What do you want to be called then?" Glesyn asked curiously.

The white man shrugged. "There is no word for it."

"Well what's your word for it?" Glesyn asked.

The white man rolled his eyes. "We do not use words. Words are only for dealing with those who cannot communicate as we do."

Glesyn blinked. "Huh?"

This time Glesyn could feel the white man's exasperation. We communicate in this manner. It is more expedient.

"Oh."

Naefindan and Torhle were both eyeing him strangely, so Glesyn pointed at his head. "He was talking in here again," he explained.

"Ah," Nae said, chuckling. "That must be strange."

Glesyn considered, then shrugged. "Not really."

"Well it annoys me," the white man muttered.

"So do you not have a name too?" Glesyn asked, ignoring that he was being insulted. Again. He still didn't know why the white man couldn't just not hear him.

The white man stared at him for a moment, rather suspiciously, then he scowled and crossed his arms. "Faelin is close enough," he muttered.

"Faelin, hmm?" Nae said, testing it out. "Faelin, Faelin. Faaaeelin. Huh." His eyes gleamed. "Lin it is. Dunno what to do about dragon-boy there. His is almost as awkward as mine." He grinned. "Welcome aboard, my friends, for however long you're here."

Glesyn blinked. "We cannot leave now?" he asked, thinking of his quiet little mountain home where everything made sense.

Naefindan shrugged. "We're a good day's sail from where we picked you up," he said apologetically. "That storm slowed us down and we're on a tight deadline." He eyed Glesyn. "Don't see why you can't just fly back, though, if you're in a hurry."

Thinking of the brief glimpse he'd gotten of endless sea, Glesyn swallowed. "I don't know how to get home from here," he admitted. "I don't even know where here is."

Nae glanced briefly at Torhle, the two seafarers sharing a look Glesyn couldn't quite identify, then he turned back to his desk, sweeping scattered items out of the way to reveal a strange picture of some kind. He pointed to one spot on the picture. "This is where we found you." He moved his finger to a new spot. "This is where we are now."

Feeling rather helpless, Glesyn stared at the picture.

"He does not understand," Faelin said, "And neither do I. What are you showing us?"

Naefindan blinked, rather like an owl. "It's a map... you don't know what maps are?"

Glesyn shrugged, not really wanting to explain his mother's preference for isolation to these people who lived in such close confines as they traveled across the world in their ship.

"I know my island," Faelin said tightly. "I had not expected to ever leave it."

Nae openly gaped at him. "Never? But... but there's... so much world to see! How can you-"

Torhle cut him off neatly with a hand over his mouth. "We'll return you both to your island. Should only be a few weeks' journey to Makani and back. No more than two months at most, even if we run into more storms."

Two months? A feeling not unlike panic arose, making his stomach twist and clench. How was he supposed to spend two months out in the world? A world he knew almost nothing about!

But then, hadn't he always wondered, even as his mother had warned him away? He'd always known there had to be more to the world than the little mountain home where he'd been raised. Maybe this was his chance to finally see it.

He glanced at Faelin, somewhat unsettled to find the white man watching him with a peculiar expression, then met Torhle's gaze. "I can wait, I think, until you return me to my home. There is..." He glanced briefly at Naefindan. "Much to see."

The fish-man's eyes sparkled, but he couldn't seem to actually say anything while Torhle had his mouth covered. Instead he merely beamed before flicking his gaze curiously to Faelin.

The white man stood perfectly still for a moment, then his shoulders slumped and he sighed softly, hand once more touching the pouch around his neck. "I suppose it will not be too terrible," he said finally, "As I do not see I have much choice."

Nae's face fell and he made a brief, halfhearted attempt to escape from Torhle, who kept him firmly pinned.

"The cabin you woke in is our only guest cabin," Torhle said. "You can sleep there."

Naefindan deftly slipped out of Torhle's grasp with an ease that made Glesyn wonder if he could have done it all along. "You can explore the ship as you please, as long as you don't get in the way of normal operations. I'd tell you to beware of Lan, but..." He eyed Glesyn critically, then grinned. "I don't think you'll really have anything to worry about."

Before Glesyn could inquire about that cryptic statement, Nae was ushering both he and Faelin out the door and back onto the main deck, pointing out a few salient areas and assuring them that Lan, whoever that was, was most likely at the helm but they probably didn't want to go there. He patted them on the head and turned back into his cabin. The last thing Glesyn heard before the door closed was a rather sing-song version of Torhle's name, and a mild yelp from the human.

Then it was closed, and he and Faelin were staring into the bright sunlight over a glittering sea, surrounded by more than a dozen sailors going about their duties. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying them much notice.

"You would think that two such as ourselves would stand out more on a ship full of humans," Faelin mused quietly, "But after having met the captain..."

"He's not human either," Glesyn reminded him, "Though he looks it better." Except for his choice of clothing, which was by far the strangest thing Glesyn had seen yet. It did look comfortable, however, and much easier to get into than all the layers favored by the humans on the islands near to his own. Maybe Naefindan would let him borrow one.

Faelin twisted sharply to stare at him, then grimaced and stalked off, headed toward the far end of the boat. Ship. Whatever it was called. Glesyn watched him for a moment, wondering what he'd done this time, before deciding it didn't really matter. He had a boat to explore!

Ship.

The ship was fascinating. For one thing, it was blue, from the light blue of its sails to the darker blue keel and all the varying shades between. There was even a section that matched Glesyn's hair and scales, much to his amusement, and the crew's as well. Apparently it was becoming something of a joke that while the ship had been designed to match its captain, Glesyn matched it far better.

Fortunately Naefindan found the whole thing highly amusing, or else Glesyn might have been concerned. He'd even made comments a few times about dying his hair blue, though Torhle apparently objected to that. Glesyn wasn't sure why. Blue hair was very attractive. Although Nae's natural pale gold was pretty too.

There was just so much to look at! He explored from front to back... err, bow to stern, and left to- no, port to star... star... star-something, and pretty much everything between except for the rigging (which was everything from the masts upward, apparently) and that he only neglected because Naefindan told him in no uncertain terms what would happen if he was to attempt to climb up the rope ladders without cutting his nails. Since Glesyn rather liked his nails, he stayed on the deck.

He also managed to meet the mysterious Lan, whose name was actually Lanthus. The man was slightly taller than Glesyn, which was really very impressive given that he'd never seen a human taller than he was before, and wore bright, vivid colors in a wild mix of fabric and jewelry and things that dazzled his eyes and made him want to touch, except that he had the feeling he'd probably get his fingers broken if he tried.

Well, maybe not when Riven was nearby (Riven being the adorable little blond whose smiles made Lanthus go from scowly to melty in less than one blink) but Glesyn really didn't want to test his luck by trying to poke at the shiny things on Lan's clothing even when Riven had him doing that melty thing. Glesyn might be the one with the claws, but Lan didn't need claws to be walking dangerous. Maybe he had dragon blood somewhere in his history.

By far the hardest thing to deal with, however, was Faelin. The man was beautiful, there was no denying that, but he seemed to have a personal dislike for Glesyn no matter what the dragon did. Every now and then Glesyn would catch Faelin watching him, when they weren't outright running into each other, but almost as soon as Glesyn noticed Faelin would turn away and stalk off. It was maddening, frustrating, and no small part confusing.

Like this morning, when Glesyn had hopped up onto the forecastle deck only to find Faelin already there. Glesyn hadn't even had to say anything before Faelin was already turning, frowning.

"Your endless chatter is incredibly annoying. Can't you learn to think more quietly?"

"You could just not listen, you know."

"I'm trying, but you are so very loud!"

Of course, he'd stormed off again after that, leaving Glesyn bewildered and frustrated. The man didn't seem to have problems with anyone else on the ship. Indeed, he was downright friendly to some of the sailors. But not to Glesyn. Never to Glesyn.

But he refused to let it get to him, instead badgering the sailors into telling him everything about what they were doing and why, to the amusement of some and the frustration of others. After a while he thought he had a fairly good idea of how the ship worked, in theory at least.

Then they arrived in Makani.

Makani was the largest city Glesyn had ever seen. It seemed to go on forever, along the coast in both directions and inland up into the mountains. If he'd thought it odd that nearly two dozen sailors would all want to live together, this was downright unfathomable! And worse yet, when he expressed his thoughts aloud Naefindan had laughed hard and told him that Makani was far from the largest or busiest port they'd docked at.

Glesyn didn't even try to wrap his mind around that. It was beyond his ability to process. And the only other person on board who might understand what he was feeling was the one avoiding him. Of course.

Torhle, at least, seemed sympathetic. He was the one who found the large kerchief to hide Glesyn's hair and ears, soft coverings for his feet, and loose gloves to obscure his hands. Last, he provided a little pouch of shiny metal bits, explaining that perhaps Glesyn might want to purchase something as a souvenir.

Then he had to explain what purchasing was.

But finally Glesyn was off the ship and back onto land that held still beneath his feet and didn't sway with each passing wave. There were sights and sounds and people everywhere and for one moment Glesyn felt a tremor of fear. He looked back behind him at the ship, bright and beautiful, reassuring himself that he could find it again if he got lost. Then he turned, squared his shoulders, and went to explore Makani.

He didn't know what to look at first. Ahead of him was a man balancing pots on his head as he strolled briskly up the road. To one side was a tall, scarred woman who reminded him of Lanthus, only she had more than a dozen weapons on her while Lan rarely seemed to bother. But her clothes were just as bright and around her neck hung bits of sparkling things that Glesyn had to force his eyes away from with effort.

It took him a while to find the marketplace Torhle had directed him towards as he had to keep stopping to look at things. Eventually, however, he made it, and had to stop again to gawk.

First there were the people. There were more varieties of people than he'd ever seen before in all his life, in all different colors and fabrics and sizes. Everywhere he looked there was someone new, someone entirely unlike the ones he'd seen before. They moved around in a teeming mass, going from one brightly decorated stall to the next, inspecting what was at each.

And what was there! Foods and clothes and furnishings and more trinkets than he could possibly identify, much less remember. There were bottles of things that smelled and bottles of things that were for drinking and just plain bottles in all shapes and sizes. There were things that sparkled and things that shimmered and things that he longed to run his hands across just to see if it felt as wonderful as it looked. So much of everything it made his head spin, and there were bigger places than this?

He clung to a sturdy pole until he stopped feeling quite so overwhelmed, then resolutely pushed away and began making his way through the teeming crowd.

The first stall he stopped at had bits of colored glass done up to resemble various sea creatures. He spent a bit of time admiring them, naming the ones he knew and remembering the ones he didn't to ask Naefindan about later. A man-fish should know about other fish, right?

The second time he stopped was for brightly patterned fabric in more colors and designs than he'd ever known could exist. He contemplated getting some to fashion like Nae's skirt, but decided to see what else was around first. He could always come back again - provided he didn't get lost. Which was always a possibility, but he consoled himself that if he really got turned around all he really had to do was find the sea.

Every step he took, it seemed, there was something else he had to look at. Things that dazzled, awed, and amazed, but never quite what he was looking for.

Then he saw it.

Lying on a table, surrounded by strange trinkets, was a small wooden ship, the nose and tail of which had been fashioned to look like a dragon. Not a very good dragon, but a dragon none the less. It was perfect. He had to have it.

See something you like?" the old man behind the table asked slyly, reaching out to caress the dragon ship.

"It's very nice," Glesyn admitted, politely not telling the man about its inaccuracies.

"You like it?" the old man asked, grinning. "I'll make you a special deal."

Deal? Torhle's lessons hadn't covered 'deals'. "Um... okay?" Glesyn tried.

"Fifty silver," the man said promptly.

Glesyn blinked at him, trying to remember which ones were 'silver' and eventually deciding that he didn't have fifty of anything, even if he could remember which ones were which. "Umm, I don't think..."

"Forty-five," the man interrupted, watching him intently. "It's an intricate piece of craftsmanship."

"I still don't-" Glesyn tried again.

The old man crossed his arms, frowning. "Very well, forty-two, but that is my final offer."

Glesyn looked at him, then at the dragon-boat, then back up to the man. He supposed if he counted very carefully he might have that many coins - though he still couldn't remember which ones were silver. He reached for the little bag, intending to count, when a hand clasped around his wrist.

Don't, and don't say anything.

Glesyn twisted to stare at Faelin, who was eyeing the old man with a strange expression, his snow-white hair and pointed ears neatly hidden beneath a large, floppy hat. Oddly, his skin didn't look as pale as it had. If anything, it seemed to be taking on a green-brown tint. "The craftsmanship is crude at best, an amateur hand. Perhaps you bought it from the old village granny for a few coppers? It is not even worth ten silver," Faelin stated.

The old man bristled. "Have you no eye for beauty? Can you not see the magnificent details crafted into the piece? Forty silver is far less than its worth, but for the young gentleman I will be generous."

"Forty silver?" Faelin exclaimed, making that squinty-eyed expression that Glesyn thought was only used on him. "Thievery. My cousin could make a better offer." He crossed his arms. "Fifteen."

"Fifteen?" the old man bellowed. "Are you mad? The materials alone are worth more than fifteen. Thirty-four."

"A few slivers of wood and a bit of twine? You mock me sir." Faelin smiled tightly. "Twenty."

"Thirty-one."

"Twenty-three."

"Twenty-eight."

"Twenty-four."

"Done."

The two of them eyed one another for a moment, then Faelin took a step back, placing him just at Glesyn's side. Now you may open the bag, he informed Glesyn, showing him a picture in his head of what, exactly, Glesyn needed to retrieve from the little bag.

More than a little bit confused, Glesyn obeyed, fetching out the coins and giving them to the old man, who then handed over the dragon-ship. As soon as it was in his hands Faelin turned him around and began steering him back into the flow of the marketplace, one hand lightly touching his arm.

You really are daft.

"Huh?" Glesyn blinked. "I am not... Hey! Where'd you learn to do that?" He'd thought Faelin had never been off his island, as clueless in the ways of the world as Glesyn was.

There are a few humans with whom my people will occasionally trade. The skill is necessary in dealing with human greed. Glesyn caught a faint hint of disgust. That gnarled old root could see you hadn't the first notion of what you were doing and was going to take advantage of you. Really, I can't believe they let you off the ship alone.

Glesyn bristled. He wasn't a hatchling! He just didn't know all that much about the human world.

Or the dragon world, really, now that he thought about it. His mother really had managed to keep him very sheltered, in all her paranoia. For all that he missed her these last few years, at the moment he really just wanted to strangle her. There was so much he didn't know!

Family is like that, Faelin said idly, though there was a hint of frustration and tension in his thoughts. Always convinced they know what's best for you, even if that means keeping you ignorant. Perhaps the world isn't very pleasant, but that is no reason not to know it. Besides... surely some parts of the world are worth knowing.

Glesyn looked down at him. Or rather, at the top of his borrowed hat. "Your mother didn't let you explore either?" he asked curiously.

Faelin snorted. Mother, father, elders, village... They like their way of life and have no curiosity whatsoever for what lies beyond our mountains. He moved a little closer to Glesyn to avoid a small band of humans who looked (and smelled) like they hadn't bathed in months. It's not a bad life, and I enjoyed it, I just... Frustration, curiosity, a glimpse of the sea, the stars. Envy. Home seems so small when you know how big the world is. It didn't seem that terrible just to look... Of course, looking is what got me caught in that storm, too far from home to call for help.

"You did call for help," Glesyn pointed out. "I heard you."

Yes, you did, Faelin agreed, the corners of his lips quirking up. Some rescuer you turned out to be.

Glesyn's cheeks heated. "I was doing just fine until my wing got broken," he protested.

Faelin stopped suddenly, peering up at Glesyn intently. And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it? he asked. Glesyn realized it hadn't even ached for weeks. I can mend myself, but I have not the training to mend others. Faelin frowned. I wonder who...

The rest of his thoughts were cut off abruptly as two of the stinky men tripped, crashing into him and knocking him in turn into Glesyn. Although Glesyn managed to catch Faelin, something shoved hard at his feet and they both fell hard, Glesyn landing on his back and Faelin landing on him. There were hands touching him, hands that didn't belong to Faelin, and Glesyn reacted without thinking. His claws tore through the tips of his gloves, digging into flesh and hurling it away from him. He heard a howl of pain, angry swearing, and then a sharp gasp.

Suddenly the ever-present noise of the marketplace died. Glesyn sat up a little, unsettled to find everyone staring at him - and at Faelin, whose hat had come off to expose green-streaked white hair. In the next moment Glesyn realized his own kerchief had been knocked askew, exposing one ear and a good portion of his hair.

This was the moment his mother had always warned him about. The moment they discovered what he truly was. He swallowed as the whispers began, the fearful looks, the backing away. Then one of the men who had knocked them over stepped forward, drawing his sword.

"Monster."

Monster? No- he wasn't a monster. He was a dragon. He was Glesyn. "I'm not-"

The man swung. Several others drew their swords. Glesyn barely managed to get out of the way in time. He could feel Faelin's shock and fear, though that fear was rapidly being buried beneath a powerful anger. The next time a blade came at them, Faelin reacted.

It looked like tiny grains of sand, whatever Faelin threw at their attackers, but sand didn't suddenly sprout into thorn-covered vines and wrap squid-like around the men. Glesyn stared in blank astonishment, only jolted out of his surprise when Faelin grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet, pulling him away from the men, away from the marketplace. It was after they had broken into a run for the docks and the ship still moored there that he finally realized what the little grains of sand had been.

Not sand at all, but seeds. Tiny little seeds that had grown with incredible speed.

He wondered what else Faelin could do.

Faelin didn't really give him a chance to wonder, however, as they raced as quickly as they could toward the docks. The sea and the waiting ships were in sight - Naefindan's ship amongst them - when Glesyn chanced a look back and realized they were being pursued.

By what appeared to be half the humans in the city.

"Faelin!" he managed to gasp out, and the man glanced back over his own shoulder, green eyes widening and then narrowing.

Run.

Oh, that was very helpful. He could probably breathe fire at them, but that would most likely just make them angrier, not to mention he didn't really want to hurt anyone. There was always the option to shift to his large size, but the crowd was awfully close and he wasn't sure if he could shift, grab Faelin, and take off before they caught up.

Then suddenly he saw the ship, numerous heads of sailors popping up as they undoubtedly heard the commotion. He could barely hear them calling to each other, then just as they reached the gangplank the unmistakable white-blond of Captain Naefindan's hair appeared as the man vaulted up on to the railing. He spared Glesyn and Faelin a brief look as they all but fell on board, then gazed back out over the docks and the angry mob below. Glesyn dared a look back himself as he stopped to catch his breath.

The humans had stopped, every last one of them, and were staring up at the ship with slack jaws and wide eyes. Confused, Glesyn looked around, but could see nothing that might cause such a reaction.

Look up you idiot, Faelin said rather acerbically.

Blinking, Glesyn did just that. And promptly yelped. Hanging in the air over the ship (and part of the docks) was the biggest wave he'd ever seen in his life. Not a single drop fell; the entire mass just hovered, waiting.

"Now that I have your attention," Naefindan said, his voice ringing out over the hush, "Let me point out to you how incredibly idiotic you're all being. You have before you representatives of two entirely different races, which you know nothing about, and your first reaction is to threaten them? Did you even think about what you might be able to learn from these people if you bothered to stop and make friends with them?"

"Monsters!" someone shouted.

"Monsters?" Naefindan repeated, incredulous. "Because of a few odd colors?"

There was a murmur of many voices, all speaking different things, but the general consensus seemed to have something to do with Faelin's vine trick.

"That's ridiculous." Naefindan scowled. The expression looked entirely out of place on a man who was normally so cheerful. "Every island in the world has mages on it. Practically every decent-sized ship on the seas carries a weathermage, and the really fortunate ones can boast a healer. So his magic is a little different from yours. Who cares?"

The crowd broke out into a low rumble, interspersed with the occasional angry bellow, and Naefindan slowly surveyed the scene below. After a minute or two he sighed and shook his head, jumping back down off the railing and onto the deck. "Very well," he said, pitched just loud enough to carry. "If that is the way you wish it, then that is how it will be." He turned his back on the crowd, azure eyes gazing out over his crew. "Hoist anchor, make ready to sail. We're leaving."

As the crew swiftly set to seeing out his orders, Naefindan turned toward Faelin and Glesyn, bluegreen eyes full of sadness. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'll take you home now."

Glesyn looked at Faelin, who was watching Nae with an unreadable expression. After a moment Faelin shook his head slowly, tongue darting out to wet his lips before speaking. "No, you were right, in what you said. We have much that we could learn from one another, and we cannot do that if we are hiding away in isolation." His eyes flickered briefly to Glesyn, then returned to the surprised-looking Naefindan. "I would like to stay, for a little while, if that is permissible."

Naefindan blinked slowly, blue-green eyes wide in surprise, then his gaze shifted to Glesyn. "And you?" he asked.

It was unsettling to be the focus of everyone's attention. Glesyn shifted awkwardly, running a hand through his hair and pulling off the kerchief he'd been wearing. It certainly wasn't hiding anything anymore. "I... I have nowhere I need to be," he said finally. "I miss my treasures, but perhaps I will collect new ones to take home with me on this journey."

"Treasures?" Naefindan asked, at the same time that Faelin frowned at Glesyn's hands.

"You lost your little ship."

Glesyn blinked, looking at his empty hands and wondering what had become of the dragon-ship. He hoped it hadn't gotten destroyed, though the possibility was very likely. Still, its loss made him all the more aware that here, on this ship, he had no treasures at all. That, more than anything else, made him long for home.

He had one box filled entirely with pretty pebbles he'd plucked from riverbeds, some of them even going so far as to sparkle in the right light. In another he kept shells from the sea that washed up on the beach, and yet another held marvelous feathers of all colors and sizes from the birds that lived on and around his island. Simple treasures, perhaps, compared with what he'd seen in the Makani marketplace, but they were his, and he treasured them.

"You keep feathers," Faelin said, sounding surprised. Glesyn was rather surprised he'd spoken aloud instead of in his head when Faelin clearly could still hear his thoughts.

"Yes," Glesyn said defiantly, waiting for what was certain to come after. His mother had always rolled her eyes at his treasures, calling them worthless compared with her treasures of old, and certainly none of the humans he'd ever spied on had kept such frivolous things.

"Hmm," Faelin said softly, almost thoughtfully, then shook his head and fixed his attention on the highly-confused Naefindan. "Well, Captain? Are you willing to tolerate your passengers for a little longer?"

Naefindan looked between them for a moment, then smiled faintly and spread his hands. "I was the one trying to convince you to stay, remember? You think I'm going to argue if you want to stay a bit longer?" His smile brightened. "Hey, we're not too far away from Roae. There's a place you just have to see. Lan! Lan!" He whirled and bounded off for the poop deck, undoubtedly in search of Lan.

Glesyn watched him go, smiling slightly in amusement at the drastic mood swing, but also contemplating again the blond man's brightly-colored skirt and whether Nae had any that would fit him.

At his side Faelin grimaced and threw up his hands. "Just when I thought there might be hope for you after all," he muttered, stalking off toward the far side of the ship, leaving Glesyn staring after him in bewilderment.

--

There was something different about the sea breeze when you were sailing it on a ship rather than riding it through the skies or feeling it on the ground. It was an entirely new kind of flying - one that didn't require wings. Just a ship and the sea and the winds that Glesyn called to, drawing them down from above hard and fast, nearly hurling the ship across the water. Naefindan had laughed, finding it highly amusing, though Glesyn had backed off a little after noticing that some of the crew were looking rather green.

Still, though he wasn't allowed in the rigging, the bowsprit was almost as good for flying over water. Nae had joined him a few times, Riven and Torhle had conversed with him from the forecastle deck, and once, much to his surprise, Faelin had sought him out.

Faelin, accompanied by five or six birds clinging to his clothes and hair. Hair which was now more green than white, and almost seemed to have patterns in it.

The man had eyed him silently for long enough that Glesyn began to squirm, then abruptly held out his hands. Here.

Confused and curious, Glesyn walked back along the bowsprit and dropped down onto the deck, peering into Faelin's cupped hands. Nestled there were two vivid blue feathers, an embroidered bit of cloth, two sparkly stones, and a golden ring that held the prettiest stone yet - almost the exact green of Faelin's eyes. Were these...?

Yes, they're for you. Faelin rolled his eyes. The birds brought them to me. I thought you would appreciate them more. He shifted awkwardly, not quite meeting Glesyn's eyes.

"Treasures," Glesyn breathed, picking up a feather. "For me."

They're nothing special, Faelin said, glaring at Glesyn's feet.

"They're beautiful," Glesyn refuted, examining each treasure one at a time. They really were beautiful. Much nicer than anything he'd had back at home. He would have to see if Naefindan had a proper box to keep them in.

Faelin ducked his head further, hiding his face but giving Glesyn a rather good view of the top of his head, including that oddly patterned green hair with its fading white streaks. Come to think of it, Faelin's skin had seemed rather greenish of late, and darker than it had been before. He wondered what was making the man change colors so drastically.

Spring.

Glesyn blinked. "Huh?"

You wanted to know why I'm turning green. Because it's spring. My people change colors with the seasons. Faelin shrugged. Lets us blend in with nature.

When Glesyn continued to stare at him, Faelin made an exasperated sound and then Glesyn's head was filled with images of people - people who bore a resemblance to Faelin, pointed ears and all, and as he watched they changed from all white to warm, leafy greens and browns, to reds and golds and more brown, then back to white again.

"Oh," Glesyn managed after a moment. "Neat."

Faelin rolled his eyes, but before he could deliver a no-doubt scathing reply Torhle walked up, carrying a small, elaborately decorated chest. He smiled and held out the chest to Faelin.

"Hope that's what you had in mind," Torhle said, smiling. "I sent Nae down this morning, and this is what he brought back."

Faelin shifted awkwardly and made no move to take the chest. Glesyn looked between the two of them curiously, then at the object in question. "What's in it?" he asked.

"Hmm, I wonder," Torhle murmured, eyes twinkling. "I'll just leave this here, then, and you can decide what you want to do with it." He set the little chest down on the deck and walked off, whistling a cheerful tune.

Looking from Torhle to Faelin to the chest and back to Faelin, Glesyn felt both curious and bewildered. "Umm..."

Faelin sighed. "Go ahead, they are for you anyway."

Glesyn cheerfully complied, crouching down on the deck and unlatching the chest. He threw back the lid and his breath caught in his throat. "Ohhh..." he breathed. Seashells. Perfect, exquisite, unbroken seashells. Dozens of them in all different shapes. He lifted a few out to examine more closely, revealing what had been hiding beneath. Pearls, glistening with their faint imitation of color, in varying sizes. Each absolutely beautiful. Reverently he ran his fingers across them, then painstakingly placed Faelin's other treasures on top before closing the chest and looking up.

"Thank you," he breathed. "I have treasures."

Faelin shifted, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Why do you do that anyway? he asked. I've never known another creature quite so... so... He gestured helplessly.

Glesyn considered a moment, then shrugged. "I guess it's just a dragon thing? Never thought about it before."

Faelin's brow furrowed. You seem to know remarkably little about your own species.

"Yeah," Glesyn agreed, shrugging. "My mother was very reclusive. Didn't like anyone around her, dragon or otherwise. She left the dragon isles long before I was hatched, flying up north where there were plenty of places to live and not be sociable."

Faelin rolled his eyes again. Now that sounds like my people. Live as far away from the rest of the world as possible. I think I am the only one who knows what curiosity is.

"Maybe that's why mother picked the northern isles to hide away on," Glesyn said with a laugh. "Similar temperaments."

Faelin's mouth quirked. Possible. But there's so much they're missing. He gestured at the sea, the world, beyond the ship. I'll admit I was terrified at first, being so far from everything I know, but... how can I pass up the chance to see all the things I've only ever dreamed about? All my life I've lived on one little island when there's a whole world out there I know nothing about.

That was certainly true, and it was a feeling Glesyn shared, and yet... "Don't you miss your family?" he asked. For all that his mother had been gone several winters now, he still missed her.

Faelin hesitated for a long moment, then finally shook his head. "I miss my home," he admitted softly, "But you have no idea what my people are like. If I went back and they learned where I had gone, they would never let me leave the village again." His mouth tightened. "I would rather never go home than be confined like that."

Mouth working soundlessly, Glesyn struggled to wrap his mind around that. Not let him leave? Even his mother in all her paranoia had never behaved like that. She'd just liked to lecture on the dangers of the world.

"Do not worry about it," Faelin said gruffly. "I am here now, and that is all that really matters."

Glesyn regarded him for a moment before managing a faint smile. "Two sheltered explorers off to see the great and wondrous things the world has to offer," he quipped, drawing a fleeting smile from Faelin. Glesyn reached out, then had to take a swift step to the side as Naefindan came bolting past, giggling madly as he grabbed onto one of the stay lines and scrambled up into the rigging.

As Glesyn and Faelin shared a bewildered look there came a furious bellow of outrage and then Lanthus appeared, his hair now a bright, dazzling pink.

"NAE! When I git my hands on ye!" he roared, and proceeded to follow his captain into the rigging. On his heels Riven and Torhle appeared, both doing their best to try to placate the furious man.

Glesyn blinked slowly and looked over at Faelin, finding that the green man had done the same. After a moment Faelin's lips quirked, and he laughed softly. "And just think," he said, green eyes sparkling, "We do not really even have to go anywhere. Surely nothing else in the world can be half as bizarre as what occurs on this ship."

"Sure it can," Nae said cheerfully, popping up behind Faelin and making him jump. "There's the singing tortoise of Torun, and the fire-eaters of Sasqui, and the birthing-day party of King- Ack!" He deftly dodged out of the way as Lanthus dropped down onto the deck and lunged for him, bolting away at full speed.

Glesyn exchanged another look with Faelin, then shook his head. "Maybe we should head below," he suggested, tucking his chest under one arm and offering the other to Faelin.

"It is probably safer," Faelin agreed, hesitating only a moment before linking his hand with Glesyn's and setting off across the deck and down the stairs toward the cabin they shared. They'd only made it to the hallway when the ship abruptly tilted violently, knocking Glesyn first into the wall and then to the floor. He oofed as Faelin landed on him a moment later.

"Erm, um, sorry, sorry."

"Naefindan!" Even through the wood of the deck it was impossible to miss Lan's bellow.

Glesyn focused carefully on what was happening abovedecks so as to avoid thinking about the fact that Faelin was still in his lap and squirming as he attempted to disentangle himself from Glesyn. Considering that Naefindan was the Captain and Lanthus his second mate, Nae spent an awful lot of time getting yelled at by Lan.

"The ways of humans make no sense to sensible people," Faelin muttered as he finally managed to get to his feet.

"Nae isn't human," Glesyn felt obliged to point out.

"No," Faelin agreed, "He is merely insane."

Glesyn considered, but found he really couldn't argue with that. After all, anyone who deliberately tried to get Lan to kill him on a regular basis had to be at least a little bit unbalanced.

Though he snorted, Faelin didn't comment further, merely helped Glesyn to his feet and kept one hand on the wall the rest of the way back just in case the ship decided to take another tumble. He had to let go to open the cabin door, however, and was halfway across the cabin when the ship rocked again. Glesyn tried to catch him, but his own balance hadn't fared so well either and instead he collided with Faelin and they both fell heavily onto the bed, Glesyn landing on Faelin this time.

Oh, this was awkward. Faelin's pretty white-green hair was spread out haphazardly across the bedspread and his leafy eyes were wide as he looked up at Glesyn. He really was beautiful, just as he'd been the first time Glesyn had seen him. This close, the sight of him, the smell of him, created strange feelings in Glesyn. He wanted... He wanted to...

He didn't really realize exactly what he was doing until there were warm, soft lips beneath his, parted ever so slightly in surprise. They were quite nice, and his tongue darted out briefly to taste and they tasted even nicer than they felt, and of course there was the delicious smell of him that was even better up close than it was from a distance and Glesyn wanted to lick every single part of him to taste him all over and-

Abruptly he realized that Faelin had gone perfectly still, barely even breathing, and his eyes were wide as Glesyn pulled his head back. He looked like someone had hit him with something heavy, and that was when it finally occurred to Glesyn that he'd kissed Faelin.

"I, um, I..." Glesyn swallowed, staring down into those wide green eyes, his breath hitching. "I'm... I'm sorry... I..." He scrambled backwards, sliding roughly off the bed and onto his feet with none of his usual grace, backing away until his back met with the cabin wall. Faelin didn't move, merely continued to stare at him.

"I'm sorry!" Glesyn exclaimed, panic rising in his chest as he turned, yanked open the cabin door, and bolted for the top deck as fast as his feet could carry him.

Although a few sailors gave him odd looks, dusk had fallen before anyone actually ventured to speak with him. When he heard the quiet footsteps approaching he expected Naefindan, or maybe Torhle, but the soft voice that spoke his name belonged to neither. Glesyn lifted his head and blinked.

Riven smiled. "May I join you?" he asked.

"Um." Glesyn blinked again, then scooted over enough to make room on the coils of rope he'd been occupying. Riven joined him elegantly, managing a somewhat regal look even as he lounged casually on the thick ropes.

"I don't often see you staying in one place," Riven stated idly. "Usually you're all over the ship."

Glesyn hesitated, looking around furtively before letting out a soft sigh. "I did something stupid."

Riven's lips quirked, then he chuckled. "You might say that dying Lan's hair pink would be a very stupid thing to do, and yet you can find them both in the Captain's cabin testing out new wines we picked up in the last port." He smiled in fond exasperation.

"I..." Glesyn stopped and considered, trying to decide if kissing someone without permission was equivalent to dying Lan's hair pink. He suspected his mother would have said no, but she'd also never met Lanthus. "I may have done something to offend Faelin," he said finally, "but I'm not sure because mother's rules never covered this sort of thing and Faelin's not human or dragon, so the rules I know may not be the ones he knows and... I'm so confused."

When he finished Riven remained silent, his head cocked just slightly to the side as he contemplated. A brief smile ghosted across his lips, then he nodded. "You should go talk to Faelin. Ask him the proper etiquette," he said.

Glesyn choked. "I don't think that's a good idea," he managed.

Riven smiled gently. "It will only make things worse if you don't. Especially if you let it go on too long." He looked thoughtful again. "Maybe if you take him something in apology... a gift." Pale green eyes regarded Glesyn with remarkable intensity. "His people enjoy plants, yes? Perhaps a rare sea flower..."

Glesyn blinked slowly. It wasn't a bad idea, but... "Where am I going to get something like that?" he asked.

Riven's smile suddenly reminded him of Naefindan. "Come with me," he said, standing gracefully and extending a hand out to help Glesyn up. He led them back down into the ship, though not too far. The cabin he shared with Lanthus, perhaps?

Inside, the decor was not as opulent as that in Naefindan's cabin, but it was far from sparse either. Trinkets were mixed up with more practical items, and there were a number of water-filled jars each containing a different mysterious object. They were also all, Glesyn noted wryly, carefully strapped down.

After looking between them for a moment, Riven selected a jar and unstrapped it, then handed it to Glesyn. "That one, I think. It's from the far southern waters and most humans have never even heard of it. I suspect it will be entirely new to Faelin as well."

Glesyn studied the brightly-colored thing in the jar with interest. It sort of resembled a flower, if he squinted, but it mostly looked like nothing he'd ever seen before. Still, Faelin carried seeds around in that pouch of his so who knew?

"You think he'll like it?" Glesyn asked.

"Very likely," Riven replied, taking Glesyn's arm and turning him around toward the door. "Go, make your apologies and your explanations. It will work out."

"How can you be sure?" Glesyn asked, but Riven was already steering him out the door with more strength than Glesyn had expected.

"Go," Riven ordered, then vanished abovedecks.

Glesyn stared after him for a long moment, then down at the jar in his hands, then finally made his way along the hallway until he was standing outside his own door. He shifted awkwardly, trying not to tell himself all the reasons that this was a bad idea, finally knocking and immediately letting himself in before his nerves deserted him. There was a brief moment of panic as it occurred to him that maybe Faelin had gone somewhere else that was promptly chased away by relief at finding Faelin sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him.

Now what? "I, um, that is, I... here!" Glesyn thrust the jar at him, willing his heart to cease racing. What if Faelin didn't like it? What if he was angry? What if he'd committed some horrible offense in the culture of Faelin's people? What if-

"Please shut up," Faelin said, grimacing. "Your thoughts are overwhelming my brain."

"Sorry." Glesyn fidgeted, trying to think quieter (how did one think quietly anyway?) or maybe not think at all but that was impossible because there was so much to think about like the fact that Faelin hadn't moved or really even looked at his present so maybe he didn't like it and Glesyn was still in trouble and why was Faelin staring at him and-

"You know," Faelin muttered, pressing a hand to his head, "It would not be so bad if you would simply settle on one thought rather than so many that they nearly drown me."

One thought? Glesyn blinked. He wasn't sure he could think of just one thing; well, he could think about Faelin. Thinking about Faelin left very little room to think about anything else. There was always so much Faelin to think about - like how he looked, all blindingly white at first and now more green than anything, leafy to match his eyes, and Glesyn could almost swear there were leaf patterns in his long hair that had been so nice when Glesyn had touched it and he wanted to touch it again, free it from the tight braid Faelin preferred. Then there was the way Faelin smelled, fresh and new and wonderful, like a walk in the mountains just before all the flowers began to bloom. And oh, he could never forget the brief glimpse he'd gotten when they'd both woken up naked, all that so-white skin that wasn't at all white anymore and he wanted to know what it felt like now, what it tasted like. He wanted to strip Faelin naked and lick his entire body from head to toes because surely someone who looked and smelled so wonderful had to taste wonderful too. So many things to lick, to taste, then perhaps he could do more than merely taste, like kiss and touch and-

That's... not really an improvement. Faelin sounded out of breath, which was odd because he hadn't spoken aloud, but Glesyn didn't really have time to wonder about it because he then realized that he'd moved closer at some point and Faelin was standing now and his hands were sliding up beneath Glesyn's shirt and he was so very close.

Glesyn held his breath.

Bright green eyes gazed up at him, as mysterious now as they'd ever been, then abruptly Faelin's hand wrapped around the back of Glesyn's neck and yanked his head down, crushing their mouths together and making Glesyn gasp.

The moment he did Faelin's tongue was in his mouth, stroking and twining and caressing, and Glesyn heard himself make a strange sound and then Faelin broke away, panting quietly.

Strip, he ordered.

"Huh?" Glesyn attempted to get his mind to re-engage, failing miserably.

Faelin tugged sharply on his shirt. Strip, he repeated.

Oh.

There being no windows in the cabin, Glesyn had no real way of knowing what time it was when he woke, though he suspected it was morning, if not later. He stretched carefully, wincing a little as an assortment of aches made themselves known, then promptly flushing hotly as he recalled exactly how he'd acquired each and every one of them. It had been quite a night.

And Faelin wasn't mad at him. Not a bit. Though he still said Glesyn was too loud, he seemed to have come to the decision that he could deal with the loudness, especially as it didn't take him very long at all to make Glesyn's brain shut down completely so that there were no coherent thoughts at all to annoy him.

Glesyn didn't mind that. Getting his brain shut down was really quite fun. Especially as Faelin seemed to have something bordering on a mild obsession with Glesyn's ears and scales and liked to lick and pet them anytime either came within his field of view. And Glesyn had discovered, much to his surprise, that his ears were very, very sensitive.

A fact that amused Faelin considerably, as well as one he took blatant advantage of.

Rolling over a little brought the man in question into his field of view, and Glesyn took the opportunity to admire what he saw as he mentally retraced all that he'd gotten the privilege to explore. His hands twitched restlessly and he spent a few futile moments fighting with them before giving into the urge to touch, one running along smooth skin while the other tangled in silken strands of leafy hair, caressing where they pleased.

Faelin mumbled something and cracked open one eye, gazing around without focus until finally managing to fix on Glesyn's face. Glesyn blinked, hands stilling, and Faelin's lips curved into a smirk.

Good morning. He didn't give Glesyn even a chance to reply, grabbing a handful of Glesyn's sea-blue hair and yanking him down sharply to be kissed. It was a slow kiss, lazy and sensual and exploratory, then Faelin let him go and pushed himself into a sitting position. Feel better?

Better? He felt wonderful. Even the lingering soreness couldn't detract from the fact that Faelin wasn't mad at him at all. If anything, he was almost the opposite of mad. Or something like that.

Faelin chuckled quietly. I reserve the right to get annoyed when you get loud, or do something exceptionally stupid.

Glesyn wondered what counted as exceptionally stupid. Faelin snorted. Slightly over half of everything you do. Including going to human marketplaces alone.

"Torhle didn't seem to think there'd be a problem," Glesyn muttered defensively, though his thoughts scattered in all directions as Faelin idly ran fingers up and down Glesyn's thigh.

"Torhle is not a stranger to the world," Faelin said aloud, his hand falling away from Glesyn's leg as he sat up straighter. "We should get up. They will be wondering where we are."

Did they have to? He liked where he was, where he could see and touch and smell Faelin, and maybe taste, if he leaned down just far enough to first lick those tempting lips, then kiss them, and Faelin made a quiet sound before kissing back, his arms wrapping around Glesyn's neck and pulling himself half into Glesyn's lap before the kiss finally broke.

"Yes," Faelin said breathlessly, "We do have to get up." He untwined his arms from around Glesyn's neck and prodded him, stealing a brief, fleeting kiss before sliding out of Glesyn's lap and onto the floor. Glesyn remained where he was for a moment, content to admire as Faelin retrieved his clothing from where it had fallen, sputtering when he abruptly found himself with a face-full of cloth.

"Get up, get dressed, and we shall see what happens from there," Faelin said, sounding amused as Glesyn glared balefully at the shirt that had been thrown at him.

Reluctantly Glesyn tugged the shirt on over his head and slid out of bed to don his pants. He'd much rather stay in bed with Faelin, but he supposed they really shouldn't be lazy. Being guests on the ship, and unpaying ones as well, he and Faelin had to be extra-polite. Which included not lazing around all day, as well as making efforts to be sociable.

"As long as sociable does not include emulating Captain Naefindan in his antics," Faelin interjected dryly.

"I don't have a deathwish," Glesyn said with conviction. "Fish people might be able to get away with such things, but we dragons are a little more sane."

Faelin's lips curled upward. "A little," he agreed.

Glesyn eyed him, trying to figure out if that had been an insult or not, giving up when Faelin grabbed his hand and hauled him out of their cabin. Thinking about Faelin's hands was much more interesting than thinking about possible insults to his race. Especially when Faelin's hands were on his and his thumb was stroking Glesyn's wrist in a way that promised to make his knees give out if Faelin didn't quit doing that before they got to the stairs.

He was almost disappointed when it stopped, though not for long, because then he got the delicious view of Faelin's backside going up the stairs to the main deck and while looking wasn't quite as nice as touching, the fact that he had permission now made all the difference.

They emerged into the mid-morning sun, blinking a bit to let their eyes adjust to the change in light, and the first thing Glesyn saw when he blinked away the dazzle was a smug-looking Naefindan watching them and holding a hand out toward Lanthus, who was standing next to him and looking rather sour. Lan yanked something out of a pocket and slapped it into Nae's hand, then turned and stalked off toward the stern, bellowing at sailors along the way.

Naefindan's smirk couldn't possibly get any wider. "Good morning," he greeted, tucking whatever Lan had given him away into the folds of his skirt.

Faelin stared at him a moment, then looked after Lan, then back to Nae, before shooting Glesyn a brief glance and flushing. Glesyn regarded him in confusion for a moment before he realized what he'd witnessed, then his own cheeks grew hot. He hadn't realized they'd been betting...

"So," Naefindan said cheerfully, sliding up between them and slinging one arm over each of their shoulders, "Everybody's kissed and made up, no more awkwardness to deal with, and there's a whole world out there just waiting to be seen. Maybe we'll head east and see if we can't find a few more dragons, hmm?" He flashed them each a grin before releasing them and spinning around to gesture broadly. "So how's about we set to making you into real sailors, hmm? Welcome to the Azure, best place to be in all the seas!"

Glesyn glanced at Faelin, just in time to catch the brief smile directed his way before Faelin was once more regarding Naefindan in wry amusement. "I believe I can agree with that," he said, his fingers searching out and linking with Glesyn's without even needing to look.

Glesyn flushed, but happily, giving the fingers entwined with his a brief squeeze. Naefindan eyed them both with a grin, then his gaze shifted to Glesyn with a rather predatory expression.

"And someone told me you might be interested in the fine art of wearing a sarong. I should have something long enough to fit you, if you're still interested..."

He got to wear a skirt-thing like the captain? Glesyn perked up, eyes shining. Beside him, Faelin groaned and shook his head.

"Idiots. They are idiots, one and all."

Glesyn laughed and twisted to look at him, picturing carefully in his mind certain advantages he'd been noticing regarding Naefindan's clothing choice. Faelin made a quiet choking sound, his cheeks reddening, then he looked away.

I suppose there might be a few positive benefits, he conceded.