Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For

Gods it feels like you've spent two weeks just trying to process this already, think dammit think! This is the moment where you decide once and for all whether Issachar stays a mysterious friend who lives down the way or becomes something more and somehow, sometime, he's managed to sneak his way into your thoughts. Everyone else has more or less made such direct overtures that you never had cause to really think about it but now that you do you... really want him, that way. He makes you feel a certain way that the others can't, a way you used to resent until you were faced with the prospect of never feeling it again.

"So you say you still feel romantic attraction?" you say as suavely as possible, summoning up every last scrap of charm in your body. You need to be confident, you need to be self-assured, and most importantly you need to do this quick before you lose your nerve! You saunter up behind him, trying to at least loom over him in an approachable fashion. He glances over his shoulder at you - it's not quite a double-take, but there is a certain flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Then I should just do something romantic~"

You gently curl your arm around his left side, your other hand drifting carefully down the opposite side to meet his. Curved talons like daggers lacing together with his fingers and squeezing. Trying so, so hard to move like Belial did, to hold it together just long enough, gazing down at him through half-lidded eyes as you purse your lips and-

You freeze.

"... kissing's safe, right?" you ask, in much the same tone a dog might use when caught with a half-eaten pillow. You extricate your hand from his just to be safe, only to panic more when you realise you don't know what to do with it. You grasp for a handhold to salvage this, both literally and figuratively. "I mean- I just want to be sure for ah... with other men my kiss has -uh- awakened such lusts that-"

The thing you try to lean on turns out to be the side of the stew pot.

"oh fUCK-"

You practically throw Issachar out of the way in a flicker of frenzied, anxiety-fuelled action. Your thoughts catch up with your body to find you hunched over the steaming pot like some furtive gremlin, both claws wrapped around the handles in an utter death-grip, a fresh dribble of stew clinging to the pot all the way down to the base. Your heart pounds like a drum in your chest.

"(it's okay, it's okay, i didn't lose any of the big bits)" you mutter, inwardly longing for death. One moment passes, two, three, as you hold that pose fervently praying that Issachar momentarily went blind and deaf so as to miss the debacle.

Instead he laughs. Not a reserved chuckle, not even at your expense, but a laugh of genuine happiness that takes you more off-guard than any other way he could've reacted. You whip your head right around and spy him smiling wider than you've ever seen him smile, head slightly cocked.

"It's alright," he says. "Messy cooking makes it taste better anyway. Trust me, I'm a scientist."

He draws closer, practically hip-to-hip with you, one arm affectionately wrapped around your middle. He slowly reaches over and rests his free hand on yours, gently dragging the pot back onto the stove and out of danger.

"Your instincts were right," he says warmly. "Kisses are safe."

You smile. You can't help it. He's doing that thing again where he makes you feel strange. With a certain amount of effort you force yourself to release your death-grip on the pot and turn to face him, claws drifting over his shoulders and down to his hips as if he were made of glass. You eventually settle for something simple, left hand flat against the small of his back, right trailing back up his spine to cradle the base of his skull as he wraps his arms around your middle. You have to lean down a bit to reach him, but he helpfully tips his head back for you.

It's funny. You might've unconsciously filed him away under 'attractive' just from being around him, but now that you're this close it's hitting you all at once, impossible to ignore. Those dark, gold-flecked eyes, bright with intelligence and understanding - it's one of those things you always hear but in that moment you feel like you really could get lost in them. The old scar you never noticed before, a subtle line that starts just below the cheekbone and hops sideways to the earlobe. The way his lips curl up into a warm, easy smile and all of a sudden the only thought in your head is how much you want to know what it feels like to kiss him. You gingerly comb your claws through the short, dense tangle of his hair, thumb framing his ear, and when you close your eyes all you have left to think about is the moment.

A small part of you worried that Belial would have 'ruined' you on it but... after that half-second of initial contact you don't know how you could've worried about it. The softness, the warmth, it certainly reminds you of your first but there's something else about it that's hard to define. Something uniquely Issachar that makes you crave more. You can almost feel his own reaction, how he adjusts to your half of the kiss. How he doesn't seem to want to pull away either. You exhale through your nose, half giggle of happiness and sigh of relief. You didn't have to be led along by the hand. You kissed someone all on your own and it pretty much worked out.

Issachar breaks the kiss first, but the what felt like six hours doing the deed has mellowed you out enough to take it in stride. In that golden moment of 'afterglow' it just feels right to cradle him against your chest, and from his lack of resistance you assume you made the right call. It reminds you of how you felt when you hugged Abzu. Strange but not unpleasant. Wishing it could last forever. And most of all sort of giddy that it happened in the first place.

"It's really complicated," you say at last. "I know. I'm in the exact middle, I get it, hah. I'm not asking you to jump right in or even move in 'cause it sounds like a nightmare having to explain this five more times. But... I like you. I want to be your boyfriend, whatever that ends up meaning."

He takes half a step back to meet your gaze, hands still loosely clasped at the small of your back. The way he smiles is all the answer you need right now. "You've got a gentle touch, you know," he says. "Very considerate."

"I try," you reply somewhat self-consciously.

"I know." He glances at the stove. "And we should probably get around to actually eating this before it burns."

"Excellent idea!"

It's exactly as delicious as you expected it to be from that smell, and you even manage to enjoy it without accidentally biting the spoon in half. He catches your constant pauses to savour the way the flavours cascade across your tongue.

"You know there's plenty left over, you can bring it back to the lair if you want," he offers, concealing a smile behind his spoon-wielding hand.

"Oh no, no it's really fine, you keep it. I should go hunting more anyway." Your surreptitiously hook a piece of meat with the tip of your tongue and flick it into your maw while he's not looking. "So what got you into cooking?" you ask. "Well, people eat so they can live obviously but it comes off as more than a necessity in your case."

"It's something of a hobby, yes. For starters I really don't have much to do all day," he says with a chuckle. "There's a fine art to it and there's something soothing about working to unravel it, and all my trials and tribulations have left me with plenty of leftovers to give to those less fortunate." He smiles. "Seeing everyone fawn over my banana bread was certainly worth the hard work too."

His expression changes, the gears of thought behind his eyes turning a few notches. "Speaking of catering, where did Makram go off to?"


"He- oh, right, you weren't there when he left. I finally made my second wish this morning and he left to go grant it."

"Oh?" He swirls his spoon around, collecting a few thin slices of carrot. "Strange he wasn't back before I left, I've always heard that djinn are quite prompt with such commands. What was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I um..."

You don't want to say. Your immediate, instinctive reaction is to seize up and dodge the question and dive off in some other direction but that seems really stupid on reflection. You're supposed to talk to people. You've been talking to people. And so far it's working out okay.

"... wished to have the map back," you finish at last. "Not strictly for the boyfriend thing I mean. Abzu told me back when we met that it shows what I want or need, it just happened to be fixated on romance at the time. I just thought, I don't know. That I liked the idea of having that certainty."

"Hey," he says. "You seem to be doing alright so far without it."

You bury your sheepish smile in your bowl and go hunting around for the exact right combination of bits to fit on your spoon. Issachar's sweet and all but he hasn't known you long enough to know that you really do need that safety net when something, anything, inevitably falls apart. The silence gives you time for a diversion to come to mind, bittersweet as that may be.

"I'm a little worried," you say, your face falling. "You're right that it's strange he's not back yet. My first wish was granted in a couple minutes, and he brought enough wine barrels to fill the cave that time - long story. D'you think it's just because finding the map's harder or should I be worried?"

He shrugs. "I'm sorry Eldingar, I wish I could help you, but djinn are something of an enigma even to me. Maybe-" a hairline fracture in the conversation, a half-second's pause as he reconsiders whatever it is he thought to say "-I'm sure he'll be fine. Djinn are no laughing matter - even if Makram got into trouble I'm sure he'd be able to handle it no problem. How have things been with him?"

You see him in your mind's eye. Standing on that rainsoaked towertop, fingers frozen mid-snap all because you said 'thank you' and meant it. Your head dips a little lower.

"Better," you say. "Getting better. That's why I was worried."

Issachar reaches across the table and rests his hand on yours, thumb brushing across the impenetrable azure scales. You feel the warmth of his touch through the armour, muted and dulled it might be.

"It'll be okay."

And between the kiss and the good food you kind of believe him.

After that it's just a case of helping Issachar tidy up (you lick your bowl and spoon sparkling clean to be helpful) and making a few vain attempts to refuse the offer of leftovers before you're off, flying back home with a stewpot carefully cradled in one massive foreclaw. All seems quiet when you return, a few murmurs of conversation or movement filtering through the bedroom doors as you track down the kitchen and store the pot in the cooler with everything Issachar's 'students' made. You doublecheck your plans with the contractors via the sending stone and flop down on your hoard for some well-deserved rest.

Morning follows a night of restful, dreamless sleep and still no sign of the ifrit. Not a map tube waiting on the floor in front of you like a dead bird, not Makram himself looming over you, nor a flicker of life from the lamp that lies buried in the front-facing slope of the pile. You look askance at the lamp, foreclaw rising almost imperceptibly as you consider calling him back just to see if he's alright. It falls again. You're being ridiculous. You'd just annoy him anyway. He'll be back when he's back. You can trust him.

Which just leaves figuring out what you'll do today in the meantime.

[ ] Call Makram to the lamp. You'd just be getting in his way. With your luck you'd be teleporting him back the second before he can grab the map.
[ ] Go find Jun-ho. See if you can't figure out something to do for him to make up for the mildly horrifying sunken temple visit.
[ ] Go find Belial. He's seemed pretty subdued since the lair got more busy, and you have to admit you're a little concerned. Maybe you can pay him back for all the listening he's been doing?
[ ] Go find Issachar. After last night you feel a lot more comfortable leaving him to his own devices. Honestly he probably needs as much time as you do to figure out what 'being boyfriends' means in this situation.
[ ] Go find Abzu. Maybe they've got something to talk about regarding the marid's corrupted lamp? Or something to share about that 'surprise' they promised for winning the bet?
[ ] Go find Lyrros. He seems to have settled in well enough, but after getting beaten again he probably deserves some one-on-one time to soothe his bruised ego.
[ ] Go find Datu. The brand new arrival who made his presence just as known as Lyrros. The contractors said they were coming today, so with any luck you can keep him entertained while they fix up his room.