“Oh, sorry for confusing you. I’m from Japan. I come from a family of air dragons. Nice to meet you.” They bowed their head and some of the beard strands brushed over the desk’s surface. They smiled.

“Nice to meet you”, Kaami said. His voice sounded nervous. “So you are Tau’s therapist?” They nodded.

“My name is Doctor Kobayashi Sora.” Their head bowed down again. “But you can call me by my first name - Sora.” “Okay. So what are we going to do now?”

The dragon tilted their head. The long neck, that grew out of the white shirt, bent to the left.

“Nothing. I just wanted to get to know you. We have to talk once in a while - how Tau is improving and how his behavior changes while he is with you - which is interesting. The orphanage never intended to match him with a tiger ever again. I wonder what made them change their mind.” While talking, Sora seemed to scan our bodies. When they had finished looking at me, they locked eyes with Kaami, who just stared back.

“Do you have a clue?” 

“No.” We shrugged.

“Hm. What are your names, sirs?” “My name’s Nikolaj Konowalow- Nik for short - and this is Kaami Saab.” “Kaami?” “Yes”, Kaami answered.

“Interesting. Are you a couple?” “Yeah.”

Sora nodded, eyes still on us.

“Are you going to adopt him after the fostering time?” I could hear Kaami sigh. “No. Unfortunately not. I mean, we barely know the kid, but even if we wanted to - we aren’t allowed to adopt.” “Is that so? Why?” 

“Why?” This was unbelievable! How could a person like a therapist not know about the adopting laws? “We are both male - obviously”, Kaami replied with a rather sad voice.

The dragon shrugged, then looked down at some documents.

“Tau is waiting. We’ll have our conversation some other time. Meet him in about an hour.”

When Sora rose, their body happened to be about a head taller than Kaami’s body. 

“I wish you a nice day”, Sora greeted us and left the room.

“What do you think about the doc?”

Kaami and I walked through the crowded city streets. Now that we were outside, it was obvious, summer was over. While in the sunlight you got cozy and warm, here between the huge and old buildings, it was chill.

Kaami  looked into the shop windows while casually talking to me.

“I don’t know”, I shrugged and tugged my jacket a bit tighter around my body.

“They seem okay. I was a bit surprised, though” “Why?”

“I’ve never seen an air dragon in town. They are very - uh - how do I say this?” 

“Beautiful.”

Silence.

When I instantly stopped walking, he almost bumped into me.

“Beautiful”, I echoed.

That was a strong word. The only person in the whole world I had ever considered as beautiful was Kaami, my boyfriend. But now that he had mentioned it, this was maybe the best description for the therapist.

“I think they are perfect for a kid like Tau. Sora seems trustworthy and their looks are so soft and warm. I felt secure while we sat there.” “That’s true.”

I still was unsure about all the new impressions, but I had to take them in and accept our change in life.