Knox was almost sure that there wasn’t any way that he could finish his current classes online. It was the middle of the semester, session in full swing and he was swamped with project upon project. Valentine was only the phone with the school dean for an hour, laughing and talking like they were old chums, inquiring about rich people things like country clubs and stocks between details of his transition to online learning. It was such a strange thing to witness, the sway that Valentine had over other people. Once he was off the phone, he explained that he’d been a benefactor at the college since the doors had opened nearly a hundred years ago. Knox didn’t understand how the college hadn’t figured it was weird that the same person had been donating money for so long, but apparently, he changed his name periodically.
That was where he put his foot down though.
“What’s so special about that drab convenience store?” Callum asked after nearly an hour of back and forth between him and Valentine. “It smells of stale beer and cheap air freshener in there, and I’m sure your wages are low.”
“That’s not the point.” He turned to glare at Callum, “It’s my job, and I want to keep it. I can’t just uproot my life.”
“It’s not as though there’s much to uproot.” The vampire grumbled, moving to stand from where they’d been watching the argument, “Your bickering is giving me a headache.”
They left the room then, ignoring Valentine as he called after them. “He’s so disrespectful. Vampires can’t even get headaches.” He huffed, turning to look at him. His expression softened, and he reached over to take his hand. “If it’s that important, little one, then we’ll figure something out. Do you only work at nighttime?”
“Yeah. I haven’t worked a day shift in forever because of school.” He allowed Valentine to intertwine their fingers, the vampire’s thumb gliding across the back of his hand soothingly.
“That’s good then. One of us can accompany you during your work, that way you won’t be alone.”
“I guess that could work. I have one more condition.”
“Has anyone told you that you’re rather demanding?”
Knox couldn’t help but send a pout Valentine’s way, “I just know what I want.”
“I suppose I can’t fault you for that. What is it?”
“I want to stay in my apartment a couple of times a week, at least.”
“Now you’re just pushing your luck. Absolutely not-“ The vampire stopped, brows pinching in an expression of utter confusion and concern. Knox opened his mouth to ask what was going on.
The noise was jarring, something crashing into the house so hard it vibrated down to the foundation. Knox flinched with it, instinctively covering his head to try and protect himself, but whatever had happened was farther off, in another room.
“Stay here.” Valentine warned, and in the next blink, he was gone.
Knox had never been particularly good at following directions, so after a moment to get his breath under control, he got up to inspect the nest. He followed the sound of Valentine’s and Nash’s voices. He was too far off to make out what was being said, but the authority of their tones was accompanied with the sound of… rumbling?
He quickly made his way to where he knew Nash’s room to be. He’d never been inside before, but he was pretty sure there wasn’t supposed to be a giant burning hole in the ceiling. Nash and Valentine were standing near the doorway, their backs to him as they faced… a reptile? It was pretty big, definitely bigger than those water monitor things he saw sometimes on animal planet, more on par with like a really large tiger. It had iridescent, bluish scales and a long tail, stubby legs with claws. It was the source of the rumbling noise he’d heard in the hallway. He stepped into the room a little more, which was a mistake, because it’s surprisingly big eyes were on him, and it made a godawful hissing sound before it lunged for him.
Knox was pretty sure he was about to die. He didn’t even have any time to try to run away, too frozen in fear as the overgrown gecko scurried towards him, surprisingly fast on its tiny, awkward legs. It turned last minute though, making him flinch as the creature turned its sights to the vampires, hissing at them. Again, it took his brain too long to put two and two together, watching dumbfounded as it spit fire at the vampires, forcing them to jump back farther into the room. Then he noticed the wings on the lizard, shimmery skin stretched over a bone frame, like bat wings. It flapped them out, as if to make itself appear bigger, hissing turning to a sharp growl, and Knox realized it was protecting him.
Protecting him? He didn’t know any lizards. Who could have possibly- oh. Oh.
“Flint?” He asked. The reptile noises paused. Nash, who had shoved Valentine behind him, sent him an incredulous look. The lizard, or dragon perhaps, didn’t turn to look at him, but the noises had stopped for a moment.
Nash scowled at him, “You know this young dragon?”
“Uh… I think so? I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Never seen him… you let a dragon into my nest?” Valentine all but shrieks, pushing Nash out of his way. A piece of the ceiling falls and crashes into the floor to their left.
☾ ⋆*・゚:⋆*・゚:⠀ *⋆.*:・゚ .: ⋆*・゚: .⋆
It took some convincing to get Flint to turn back to his human form. The dragon seemed wary, even to Knox and he didn’t know the first thing about dragon body language. He only got a peek of Flint’s broad chest before it disappeared under one of Nash’s shirts, and Knox promptly looked away. Seeing his best friends dick was a little much, even for him.
“So just to clarify, you’re not in trouble?”
“I mean… not bust through the ceiling kind of trouble.” Knox shrugged, “I like, barely ripped the card. I didn’t think it would work.”
“Well, you were clearly mistaken.”
“Thanks for coming, anyway. Maybe you can help me convince them not to completely take over my life.”
“What do you mean?”
Knox shook his head, “I can’t figure out their motives, but they seem like they want to take care of me? It’s confusing.”
Flint pulled the pants up over his hips, and then stepped forward. Knox’s first instinct was to move away, but the look the dragon gave him stopped him in his tracks. He grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it down while his other hand tilted his head to inspect the skin of his neck. The pads of Flint’s fingers were rough on his jaw, skin overly warm. It was such a contrast to the vampires, their cold body temperatures the exact opposite to the creature in front of him. His heart was in his throat.
“I’m not going to bite.” Flint promised, voice low, “But do they?”
“Do you think we’re barbarians?” The new voice had him turning around, and Flint released him easily. August was standing in the doorway, perfect face twisted in displeasure.
Flint shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”
“Well, we’re not. And we’re also not interested in Knox for his blood. We have plenty of that.” August assured. His eyes were flicking back and forth between them, as if trying to assess their proximity. Knox wasn’t so used to being close to Flint, he could feel his body heat against his back, as if the dragon were looming over his back protectively. “Come on, we want to talk about what happened.”
August reached out, as if he were about to hold his hand, but then seemed to think better of it, turning and leaving without another the word.
The vampires were sat at the smaller dining table in their kitchen, huddled at one end with grim looks on their faces. He and Flint sat at the other, knees touching. “I deeply apologize about the damage to your home.”
Callum waved their hand, as if the hole that they’d had to break the fire extinguisher out for was no big deal, “We’re more concerned about how you got here, dragon.”
“My name is Flint,” he said, “I figured you would’ve had wards set in place, but I didn’t encounter any on my flight here.”
“I thought Valentine’s wards were like, basically impenetrable.” August said, something of a pout on his face.
“Magic is a fickle thing.” Valentine mused. Now that he knew everyone was safe, he seemed more bemused than angry, hand cupped under his chin and a twinkle in his eye. “Our wards are given strength by my thoughts and emotions. Flint would have had to be invited here by one of us for the wards to grant him access.”
Callum looked about as confused as Knox felt, “None of us knew the dragon existed until he vandalized our home.”
Nash, who had been watching the conversation with his arms crossed and a scowl up until that point, heaved a sigh, “The human invited him. The wards consider Knox one of its own.”
“Oh. So that means…” August trailed off, looking to the elder vampires. Nash was kissing Valentine’s knuckled with reverence, the weight of centuries together between them as they shared a look, “Your heart if simply too big, my love.” Nash murmured, before turning his heavy gaze to Knox. It was different than the mild disinterest he usually held for him, something decidedly more calculating that he couldn’t quite meet. “If you’re going to be staying here, Knox, we need to know the kind of creatures you associate yourself with.”
“Uh, you’ve pretty much already met him,” He gestured weakly to his friend, “I’ve kind of become a hermit since moving off campus. I don’t have any other friends.”
“Wait, do you even want to stay here?” Flint asked.
“He’s made quite a splash in the vampire community,” Valentine answered, “It’s in his best interest that he reside here where we can protect him.”
“He could stay in my den.”
“Uhm, I’d rather just stay at my apartment.” He butt in, and Nash rolled his eyes.
“Your suicidal streak isn’t cute anymore, kid.”
“I’m afraid I’m also tired of negotiating with you, Knox.” Valentine continued, “You’ll be safest here, with us. Our nest has a lot of sway in the vampire world, and no one will harm you if you’re under our direct protection. As much as I would love to give you a choice on the matter, I can’t allow your stubbornness to put you in danger. It’s not a prison sentence.”
“No, it’s just babysitting, like I’m a child. How long is this supposed to play out? You guys can’t just watch me forever.”
“Just until things calm down a bit. In the meantime, you’ll continue your schooling online, and we’ll accompany you to your job. We’ll continue to keep up with payments of your rent, so it’ll still be there when this arrangement ends. You can visit your friend anytime you’d like, as well.”
That didn’t sound…terrible. It could kind of be like a weird vacation, if the situation weren’t so bizarre. Knox looked to Flint, to see what the dragon shifter thought, and he seemed to have relaxed considerably. “So long as you don’t start feeding from him. I’ll drop by weekly, and if I find even a hair on his head out of place, I’m taking him.”
Is this what a custody battle felt like? Maybe they’ll meet in a grocery store parking lot so that Flint could have his visitation time on the weekends.
“That is doable, thank you.” Valentine nodded.
Flint stood then, apparently content with the set up. He placed a hand on his shoulder, “Let me know if you need anything okay? You have my number,” he gave him a squeeze before seeing himself out.
“You’re friends with that guy?” August muttered, something akin to a pout on his face as he picked at his nails.
“Uh, yeah? He’s my best friend. Kind of.”
August huffed out a breath but didn’t say anything further. Callum laughed softly, pinching August’s cheeks, “You’re cute when you’re jealous, baby bear.”
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