Rahar stared deep into the others’ eyes, still holding his hands as he felt the fear through their bond slowly subside. “Okay….okay,” Theo whispered. Rahar watched Theo’s expression slowly relax, seeing his eyes drift down to their hands. “Thank you, Rahar. I uhm, barely know you, but I think I can trust you…”

Theo lifted his eyes again, with a shy smile that made Rahar’s heart tremble. Yes, Theo was most definitely in need of protection. “Of course! I won’t let you down!” Rahar felt himself grinning from ear to ear, happy to have the trust of the human. Theo had saved him from a horrible situation, and gotten himself pulled into something far beyond normal human means. It was Rahar’s duty to protect him, but it would also be a pleasure to keep the human safe.

“So,” Theo spoke again, in a slightly louder voice, “This whole demon thing, you said they would probably try to send someone to retrieve the necklace…?” Rahar nodded, and let Theo continue. “How exactly are we going to keep it safe…?”

Rahar blinked, and then looked to Theo- and then around the room. It was true that this place wasn’t exactly a dragon keep, easily defended from all angles. It seemed to be sturdy enough, though maybe not able to withstand demon magic, or a fight. “Well, I believe it will take them some time to find us.” He scrunched his face up, hoping that was true. “And it takes immense power to cross between realms. I doubt they will be able to right away. And when they do, I think they’ll be just as weak as I am right now…”

“So are we talking days, weeks…months?”

Rahar hesitated, giving a slightly sheepish smile. “I don’t really know…. I was close with a demon once,” his heart twisted at the memory, but he shoved it aside. “But with how little magic is in this world, I don’t think they would be at full strength for a few weeks at most. So we have that much time, at least.”

Theo frowned, and Rahar watched the little furrows form in between his brows. “And once they regain their magic…”

Rahar tilted his head to the side. He hadn’t exactly planned this far ahead yet. His intention was that the pendant be destroyed. But with it still partly intact, and leaking magic very slowly… “I can keep them at bay for a while, myself. I’m restoring my strength at a slow rate, but should be good to go by then. I am a dragon- a demon without a strong magic source is no match against me.” He was confident of that, at least.

Theo gave him a relieved smiled, and Rahar returned it with a warm one of his own. “So it’s not entirely hopeless, then…” Theo sighed in relief, and then stood, his frame wobbling for a moment, looking like he might pass out. Rahar jumped up to his feet, and grabbed Theo by the shoulders, holding him upright.

“Theo??” Worry spiked in his chest, and he leaned closer to Theo, unable to smell anything wrong with the other. He didn’t smell sick, but one could never tell with humans.

Theo’s face turned bright red, like with fever. Rahar leaned even closer, pressing their foreheads together. Theo wasn’t as hot as a dragon, of course, but his temperature was a bit higher than most humans. Theo made a soft strangling sound, and Rahar quickly leaned back, seeing the redness to his cheeks had deepened. “You are sick!” he gave Theo a rather sharp look, and then huffed softly, gripping his shoulders even tighter. “You must sleep!” Rahar was still worried the bonding might have been too much on the poor human’s body. He already looked so thin and frail in comparison to most dragons. It might have been common for humans to look this way, but Rahar was concerned all the same.

“I-I’m not sick, Rahar, I just…didn’t sleep well…” Theo stammered, as Rahar started to half drag him towards the stairs. He knew Theo’s room was upstairs, since he had caught his scent all over the bed he had woken in. Rahar blinked, and then froze for a moment. The scent in the bed hadn’t been fresh, which meant that Theo hadn’t slept in the bed with him- something his brain had just now registered.

“Did you sleep on the floor?” Rahar thought, horror flooding through him.

“N-no, of course not!” Rahar let out a soft sigh of relief, and then Theo spoke again. “I slept in my chair. But it’s no big deal, I do it all the time…. Just…the hike was rough yesterday and- I didn’t want to disturb your sleep, so…”

Rahar’s eyes widened. Not only had Theo given him clothes, food, and a place to sleep, the human had given his own bed as well!? Rahar inhaled sharply, and then sighed. “You will not need to do that again. I assure you my sleep isn’t easily disturbed.” He frowned at Theo, and then grabbed his midsection, and lifted him up hurriedly. The human gave a startled yelp, but Rahar brokered no resistance as he carried Theo up to the second floor.

“R-Rahar, I’m fine!” Theo’s voice had reached a higher pitch than before, But Rahar simply gave Theo a sharp snort, and carried him down the hallway. The human’s home was small, with only two other doors aside from his bedroom. But it was cozy, and had a warm feeling to it. And it was where Theo lived- therefore it was good.

He marched up to the bed, and then gently settled Theo down on top of the blankets. He took a seat abruptly at the human’s side, and scowled down at him. He kept a hand to Theo’s chest, as he immediately tried to sit up, and get out of bed. It was easy to keep Theo pinned to the bed. Dragons were strong, and humans were not. He was careful not to hurt Theo, but neither did he want Theo getting up and escaping. “Sleep,” he ordered, with a soft little huff.

“Rahar, you’re overreacting. I’m n-not sick. I’m fine…” Theo said, eyes darting to the hand at his chest. Rahar shook his head, and then scowled briefly, amethyst eyes narrowing at the human in the bed.

“You need to sleep. You look like you’re about to pass out. Don’t give your bed to me, by any means. I am a prince, but I am not soft. I have slept on the ground many times before.”

“I’m not making you sleep on the ground,” Theo said, pouting up at Rahar with a pleading expression. The pout was not going to work on him, however.

“But I refuse to let you sleep in your chair again. You should sleep in a bed, it is your home. I won’t be responsible for you getting sick…”

“Rahar, I’m not…” Theo gave a sigh of exasperation. One that Rahar had heard many, many….many times in his life. He stared pointedly at Theo, still keeping him against the bed, with a palm against his chest. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor. Neither of us do…”

Rahar narrowed his eyes at the human, and leaned over him a bit. “We can easily share this bed. I can shift into my small dragon form, and it will be big enough for us.” He huffed softly, looking around the bed. It wasn’t as large as the one he had back home- but then again, that would be nearly impossible. He had an entire cavern, and one section of it was large enough for his true dragon form to bask in.

“I-I have a spare bedroom!” Theo said quickly, sounding nervous. Rahar felt a faint fluttering of embarrassment through their bond, and cocked his head to the side, surprised to feel it. It wasn’t that dragons didn’t get embarrassed- only that sharing a bed or close space with one’s hoard was quite common. “There’s another room, and I have a daybed in there. It’s…uhm, old, and I keep my rock collection in there, but…”

Rahar tilted his head the other way, and then leaned back a bit, palm still placed flat against his chest. “Oh.” He couldn’t be sure why, but he felt a flicker of disappointment at the idea of sleeping in the other room. It was just in his nature to want to be close to those within his hoard. He frowned at Theo, lips pursing together. He didn’t like it at all, but it was Theo’s home, and he was in no position to say no. “All right…” He gave a slow nod, unable to keep the melancholy tone from his voice. A moment later, he finally took his hand off of Theo’s chest. He didn’t like it at all, but such was the way of life, sometimes. Even as a dragon prince, he didn’t always get his way.