“I uh. Think so. Rahar,” Theo hesitated, and then took in a deep breath, stabilizing himself. Wild thoughts raced through his mind, leaving him unsure of where he stood, or where even reality stood at the moment. A meteor that wasn’t a meteor, but a little dragon. And now that dragon was a man. A naked man. “What the ever living hell is going on here?”

The man before him blinked. Unconsciously, Theo’s eyes drifted downward again, trailing down the tanned skin in front of him. Rahar, or so he was that was his name, was only about an inch taller than him. But where Theo was practically a twig, Rahar seemed to have muscle on his frame. Not like a body builder or anything- more like an athlete. Toned muscles, not an ounce of flab, and-

Theo cleared his throat abruptly, and snapped his gaze up, feeling his cheeks turning a deeper shade of red. The person in front of him- Rahar- had a look of concern on his face, and stepped closer. Theo heard himself let out a startled sort of yelp, and quickly lifted a hand to stop Rahar’s advance. He needed a moment, or five thousand, to get himself together. “Are you all right, Theo?” Rahar asked, worry clear in his voice. Theo shook his head a few times.

“I just said I was….well. Honestly, I don’t know,” he met the man’s amethyst eyes. There was no doubt that this man was the dragon. His eyes were the exact same shade of purple, and just as gorgeous. “All right Theo- stop calling strange naked men who may or may not be a dragon, gorgeous,” he muttered softly under his breath.

“I am a dragon. But thank you for calling me gorgeous, I think you’re just as pleasing to look at,” the man responded. Theo wanted to die, in that moment. His eyes widened, and his heart stuttered, another little strangled sound working its way out of his throat. How had Rahar heard him whisper that? God, did dragons have super hearing? Because that was just his luck. Of course they did. Of course. Theo felt the moment starting to spiral out of control. “Theo? You seem to be feverish, are you sure you’re all right?”

The man seemed to respect his boundary, and didn’t come any closer, although Theo could see a fidgeting in the man’s frame- as if he wanted nothing more than to come close and make sure Theo was all right. Apparently dragons were also caring and considerate. Or at least this one was.

“Uh, no, I don’t think I have a fever, that’s not at it at all,” he groaned, and rubbed his forehead, wishing he could just be coherent for one moment, at least. His bad habits were going to seriously embarrass him here. Normally he didn’t have to worry about what slipped out of his mouth when he wasn’t paying attention. Talking to yourself didn’t seem so weird until there was someone else around to listen. But that wasn’t the point right now! Focus, Theo!

Theo inhaled and then exhaled, and rubbed his temples briefly before he lifted his gaze again. “So,” his voice gave a little squeak, and he cleared his throat, going for a second attempt. “Rahar, you uhm, mind telling me what exactly happened here?”

“We bonded,” Rahar said with a bright smile. His eyes lit up like an amethyst itself, a grin sprouting across his face. Theo noticed sharp fangs where his canines were. It made sense, for a dragon.

“Bonded? What does that mean?” He felt his pulse quicken, trying to keep his thoughts from racing to all of those trash romance novels he had read. It was very, very hard not to, though.

“Well, I bit you, and dragon magic infused itself into your blood. So I could learn your language, and a little bit about you. Like your name,” Rahar hesitated, and the managed to look a little sheepish. In all of his dreams, he’d never imagined that a dragon could be as easy to read as a book.

“Okay, so you learned English, and my name,” Theo said, relaxing a little bit. He got the sense that that wasn’t all- but it wasn’t like Theo had anything to hide. I mean, well, there were things to hide, but nothing that was a top concern at the moment. His personal concerns kind of fell flat in the face of an actual dragon. “I mean, okay. All right. So now I’m bonded to you. So what, does that like…make me your servant, or something?”

Rahar blinked, seeming shocked at the idea. “No! I mean, normally we have to ask permission, but I couldn’t do that, and there’s a lot going on at the moment,” Rahar said, speaking quickly. His words were still heavily accented, though Theo still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what type it was. His words were spoken in a harsh tone, with more of a bite. “Just, uh. No, you’re part of my…” Theo watched as Rahar’s expression scrunched up in concentration for a moment. He spoke a word questioningly, in more of a growl. Rahar frowned, and then smiled. “Hoard!” He was, apparently, consulting the dragon to English dictionary in his head.

“I’m a part of your…hoard?”

Rahar nodded rapidly, the grin spreading across his features again. “Yes, so I will protect you. And make sure nothing hurts you. And everything that is yours, too.” Rahar looked around the house, looking perplexed for a moment, and then looked down to the floor. “Except that…” he sounded crestfallen as he pointed to the floor, looking like a scolded dog.

Theo blinked and followed his gaze, seeing the broken mug on the floor- still surrounded by coffee. He cursed softly. He’d forgotten about the mug, and now the linoleum was going to stain! Which was absolutely awful to clean up, though not as bad as wood. At least Linoleum didn’t warp like wood floor-

Theo saw a small pool of blood, then, and a bloody footprint nearby once again shifting Theo’s priorities. All other thoughts fled as he realized that Rahar had stepped in the broken ceramic, and hurt his foot. “What are you thinking!?” He suddenly yelped, and rushed around the broken mess. He grabbed Rahar’s wrist, and then tugged him across the room. “Sit, sit!” He said, glaring at the dragon until he sat. The man looked even more like a scolded dog, one that didn’t even know what he was being yelled at for. The dragon had cut his foot on the ceramic, and hadn’t even said anything. “Stay here.” He focused Rahar with what he hoped was a fierce glare, knowing full well he had all the fearsomeness as a wet Pomeranian.

But Rahar simply sat on the couch, and stared up at Theo in awe. Theo frowned, and then turned, heading to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. He wasn’t sure that a dragon would need first aid, but he couldn’t sit by and do nothing. Theo grabbed the little kit, and then headed back into the living room, relieved to see Rahar still sitting obediently on the chair.

He made his way over, and then lowered himself to his knees in front of the man. “Lift your foot up, then,” he said, lifting his gaze briefly. Which was a big mistake. His eyes popped wide open, his face now at a direct angle to see his. Ahem. Dragon. Theo turned bright red, and then dragged his eyes back down. He needed to get the dragon some clothes, ASAP. But the foot came first.

He heard his heartbeat thundering in his ears, telling himself over and over not to look up. Rahar didn’t seem the least bit concerned about his nudity, though it was entirely possible dragons didn’t wear clothes at all. God, Theo hoped that wasn’t the case. As much of a shame as it would be to cover his body up- Theo cursed his wandering thoughts, and grabbed a throw blanket from the couch on his other side. Theo huffed a sigh, and then threw the blanket onto Rahar’s lap. “C-cover up with this.” Theo didn’t lift his eyes to see whether Rahar did or not. He did hear movement, though, which was a plus.

Instead, he forced himself to focus on Rahar’s injury as the dragon lifted his foot. Theo sighed, and grabbed hold of Rahar’s leg, shifting slightly as he saw the underside of Rahar’s feet. He winced, seeing a big shard of ceramic stuck in the man’s foot. Dark blood still trickled out from the wound, though the piece was big enough that it was unlikely there were little shards broken off.

“This might hurt a bit, I’m sorry,” he said quietly, refusing to lift his eyes to the dragons.

“I’ll be fine. Thank you Theo.” Theo felt his cheeks flush a deeper shade of red, able to hear the smile in his words. His next words, however, were filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re not getting sick? You’re just a human, maybe the bonding had a negative effect on you…” Theo tensed as Rahar’s palm pressed against his forehead. Finally, he flicked his eyes up to Rahar, relieved to see the throw blanket strewn across his lap. “You feel warm. Warmer than most humans…”

Theo pursed his lips, and then shrugged his hand off. “It’s fine. I’ll just take medicine,” he muttered. He did not have a fever. Probably. He was just wickedly embarrassed, and losing his mind. He felt like a disaster. But disaster aside, Theo needed to take care of Rahar first, before anything else. Any actual answers would come after.