The rest of David's short trip home was uneventful. Aside from a couple of butterflies, he didn't even get distracted. 

"You're home early." His mother was wearing her scales as gardening pants. Only daisies grew in the garden in front of the house. David never understood why his mother would take care of only one type of flower, but he figured it wasn't his responsibility. 

Grinning, David nodded as a response to her question.

His mother stood up, letting the scale gloves on her hands disappear. "Is everything alright—" Her eyes widened. Appearing from behind David, his father rushed forward. He cupped her face, and David could see her shocked expression soften into a smile. Jeremy leaned forward and kissed his wife. David wrinkled his nose.

Then Jeremy Delmer pushed his wife away, grasping her shoulders. "Rachel. Rachel, she let me—"

Still smiling, Rachel spoke before Jeremy could finish. "You're home early too." 

Jeremy laughed. He ignored his wife's underlying question. He turned his head. Finally noticing his son, he flinched. "David, why are you home?" 

David pouted, "Aiden wouldn't let me play with him."

Jeremy's eyes clouded. He let go of his wife's shoulders and stepped away from her. "I never liked him anyway."

David turned his head to the side. His father had often talked about how good of a role model Aiden was, how great Aiden was. 

David's mother frowned at the statement as well, "Honey..." She must have thought better of what she was going to say. David didn't pick up on the strange silence. He started bouncing up and down.

"Ooooo, Dad. I saw a human today."

Jeremy rubbed his son's hair, showing no reaction to David's statement. He wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulder. His smile came back. 

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" It had been a long time since Jeremy had looked this happy. "Since you're here, David, your mother wants me to teach you about changing."

His mother rolled her eyes, and David clapped his hands, bouncing into the house. His father kissed Rachel on the cheek and then unhooked his arm from around her shoulders. Jeremy moved towards the house. Rachel stayed outside to garden.

After entering the house, David ran down the short hallway, past his room, and his parents' room. He went straight to the room in the back, where his father had always taught David how to pickpocket.

The lamps didn't need to be lit; it was the middle of the day. Sunlight streamed through the woven walls.

Ignoring the chairs around the room, David plopped down on the floor. He stared at the doorway expectantly, waiting for his father. A few beats later his father entered the room, closing the door.

The bright expression on Jeremy's face was gone. His shoulders looked like they were being forced down. He sat on the floor across from David, for once facing his student instead of the wall.

The weariness in Jeremy's posture didn't reach his tone; his voice was as upbeat as it was outside. 

"Your mother told me you already have a good handle on most of this—gave her quite a shock, I hear, when she found a dragonfly in your place this morning—but there are a few things you might not understand..." 

***

Journal Entry

Appearance is appearance. 

A dragon cannot change their appearance; a dragon can only change their species. I could become a bird, a robin, for instance, and every time I became a robin I would look like the same robin. The same concept applied to the human form. A dragon would appear as the same human each time they appeared as a human.

Regardless of form, a dragon's age could not be changed. Whatever a dragon's age was, they would appear at an equivalent age for each species.

Scales, only worn in human form, could be in any shape as the dragon wished, but the color could not change. Unlike the scales on the dragon's true form, these scales were not tough; they were flexible and could be easily cut, but they could also be mended instantly. And, though it would not hurt, a cut on these scales would bleed. 

My father repeated some of the rules, but I don't think he realized. I had listened intently. I knew that afterward I'd be allowed to take on the form that was most natural for the dragons, next to the human form. 

I wonder why I was not allowed to take that form without knowing the rules? I suppose that doesn't matter now.

 It was after my father's lesson on changing, that I began to question why most of the dragons choose to live in the human form...

End Journal Entry