“I’ll uh, stick with the fork.” I mumble, trying to hide my embarrassment. I don’t really have anything to be embarrassed about really, since forks are the traditional utensil here in America, yet I can’t stop the wash of shame that heats my face. There is just the slightest tug at Kenji’s lips as if he were going to smile, yet it quickly fades as he returns to dishing out food.

I decided to sit at my usual spot, along the center island and facing out the window of the kitchen. Despite living alone, it was easy to fall into small habits like a favorite seat or a time to eat. Maybe it was the human in me, or maybe it was simply universal. Perhaps it was also universal to feel a twinge of irritation when that routine was interrupted by a brooding male who decided to sit directly across from me. I didn’t want to be irritated, but having him around was just very… different.

I hope I don’t show my newfound irritation, but as I dig into my food it’s hard to be anything other than ecstasy. I don’t know how but this man has managed to cook food to absolute perfection. I can’t hide the embarrassing sound of pleasure I make as I dig into the fried pork, and I don’t fail to notice the smallest smirk in the world from Kenji. I glare at him from across the table.

“What?” He asks, his voice carefully neutral.

“Nothing,” I reply in my best nonchalant voice as I can.

“Really?” He asks. I make a noncommittal noise and continue to eat. “It didn’t sound like nothing.” Kenji points out, and I can swear there’s a hint of amusement in there. I give him the heaviest eye roll I can without hurting myself.

“I am simply enjoying some good food.” I reply haughtily, not wanting to give in. Kenji actually cracks a small smile at that, a dimple creasing his cheek.

“Of course.” Is the only thing he says before he goes back to eating. I eye him warily as I return to my own dinner, refraining from any more appreciative gestures. ‘Of course’ he says, no ‘thank you’ or anything, as if I didn’t just sound like I had an orgasm in my mouth. I find myself silently fuming at this, my anger tampered only by the food that had no business tasting so good.

“So how was work?” Kenji asks, nearly startling me. I stare at him for a moment, not entirely sure how to answer. I was so caught up in being mildly cross with him that I didn’t even process the question right away.

“Oh, um. Well, not the best, I suppose.” I mumble, the events of the day tumbling through my memory like loose rock on a cliff. Kenji makes a face of mild confusion but says nothing as he waits for me to continue. With a sigh I tell him the details of my day, though I spare him of the boring stuff and jump to the interruption of the field trip. He raises his eyebrows just a fraction, but otherwise says nothing until I’ve finished my story.

“Well, it sounds like it’s under control.” He says calmly. “We’ll keep an eye out and proceed as instructed.” He says it like this is just any other day for him. For all I know, it very well could be. Perhaps he dealt with Hunters on a regular basis, or at least worked with deflecting their attempts at sniffing out dragons. Or perhaps he really was old enough to have seen worse, so much worse that this is practically nothing. Or maybe both were true and-

I shake myself from this wild train of thoughts and try to hold up a normal conversation. It’s been a while since I’ve interacted with another dragon in person. Thinking about it like that only made me more nervous. I didn’t want to always be seen as the Turned human only good for procreation, but I also never really fit in with dragons.

“How was your day?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation casual. Kenji shrugs before responding.

“Busy.” His answer is one flat word. I try to give him a look to urge him on like he did for me, but he doesn’t bite.

“Busy how?” I push, though I try my best to make it sound like a polite interest and not a rude pushing of boundaries.

“Just busy.” Kenji replies, looking away for a moment as he rubs his face. I get the hint and stop asking. I go back to eating in silence when he startles me by speaking again.

“I’m sorry.” He says after a moment’s silence. I furrow my brows in confusion before he explains. “I’m probably not the best male to be in a relationship with, even a business one.” He tells me in a gruff voice, my throat feeling thick as he speaks. “It’s nothing on your part,” Kenji clarifies. “I just prefer to keep to myself,” he states, as if it were clear as day and nothing to worry about. It’s all very clean and matter of fact, and I almost go along with it if it didn’t add another problem to our pairing.

“Why then?” I can’t help myself from asking. “I mean, why would the Council pair us then?” I clarify before he can answer.

Kenji shrugs. “They’ve grown increasingly desperate as more dragons turn rogue. We were just the first two available.” He informs me casually, though I’ve already suspected as much. It was still odd, did they really have no other male Plains dragons? Or at least a male that could be a better partner? My mind turns through these questions as I quietly finish my meal, the food losing its flavor as my concerns grow.

I quickly fall into the motions of cleaning up after dinner, though it’s odd now that there’s someone else to help. Kenji is quiet but firm as he assists in the clean up, rinsing and even scrubbing the dishes before placing them into the dishwasher. I put the left-overs in the fridge and gave Kenji a small thank you before I turned to leave.

“It’ll be alright, you know.” He says in that low voice again. I pause and turn to face him, my heart kicking up a notch when I look at him. There’s something about the way he looks at me with dark eyes that sets my skin on fire.

“It’s nothing new to either of us,” Kenji explains. “It’ll be alright.” His voice is dark and soft enough to be comforting, yet there’s a hard edge to it. I’m worried there’s something he’s not telling me, though I don’t have any good reason to believe that.

“Right,” I saw with a quick nod of my head. He returns the gesture but says nothing more on the matter. I quickly turn and leave, heading for the safety of my bedroom. It’s the one room where I can’t smell him, at least not so much, and that makes it the one room where I can maybe think with a clear head. Even still, there is one thought I can’t shake.

I unfortunately like the dark and brooding type.