Chapter Elven

Izora

I was pretty damn sure we hadn't been asleep for long when I woke up with Waj's furry paw tapping in the center of my forehead.

"Huh?" I blinked at him, and he put his paw over his mouth and waved to me with the other one.

I wasn't in the habit of following animals around all night, but Waj was almost person like and wasn't in the habit of waking us up for no reason. I carefully untangled myself from Nycto and kissed his forehead before following the dotter out of the nest. I stopped to grab my pajama pants that were part of my stuff that Castor brought when he came to hear my vision and stepped into them as I followed the dotter down the hall. With Waj I was never certain where he'd try to take me.

He stopped at the foot of the trapdoor's slide and pointed up.

"Is it Mom?" I asked, unsure of what else to call my mate's mother.

Waj shook his head and pointed to his nose. I sniffed the air and frowned. Why was Casimir all the way out here again? If it was an emergency, why didn't he knock? Up the slide I went and pushed open the trapdoor. Casimir sat nearby smoking a cigarette.

"Are you alright?" I asked in lieu of hello as I climbed out in to the top nest.

"Melon has a guest over in the nest," he said.

"And does that bother you?"

Casimir's eyes were dark. I knew that look. I knew the rumors too that we all had a silent agreement not to talk about. Castor and Casimir were our own and if what I heard was true, I didn't envy their lives a tiny bit.

"It's not allowed to bother me apparently since he's her true-mate."

"Huh?" I blinked. "Cas, start at the beginning. It's the middle of the night for some of us."

"You smell like the middle of the night."

"You smell jaded."

"Not in the way you think. Melon and I stopped being an item when we conceived. It was this weird wake up call to both of us that the only thing we had in common was fucking nonstop every chance we got. He's a healer from 2 who recently transferred to 1. Came to check on our egg."

"So you came to cuss me out because I wasn't there?" I asked.

"No, I didn't know where else to go and my dragon was about to beat the shit out of him. No, not just that ---" Casimir growled as he stopped smoking.

"Is this guy trouble?" I asked.

"No. He's a fucking goody-goody. Waited until he met his mate to have sex and all that," Casimir rolled his eyes.

"And now he's having it in the nest with your egg," I frowned.

I didn't care when people had sex or didn't. If everything was between consensual adults it was none of my fucking business.

"And she said I don't get a say in that because she's not leaving the nest and our egg."

"Do you want me to help you beat him up or keep you from beating him up?" I sighed.

"The latter, Iz. Always the latter. Beating people up is the easy part of life. Marsin caught me working out the other day and told me I should try out being a gladiator on 2. I laughed. I couldn't fucking stop laughing, Iz. I've never fought for show. My dragon isn't made for it."

"He's made for books and coffee," I frowned at him.

"No, that's the life we'd both like, but it isn't the life we're made for."

"I think we get to choose how we build ourselves at some point," I sighed.

"Yeah, look at you from social butterfly to one half of a set of hermits," Casimir smirked.

"Happy hermits," I shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better eggs are pretty soundproof."

"I hope so. If those assholes traumatize my kid, I'll fucking rip both of them limb from limb. Hell, they don't even have a council for that."

"I don't think they encounter that very often here."

"What would be the protocol back home?" he asked.

"I'd recommend not fucking in the nest if both parents weren't involved," I shrugged. "I don't think we have an official protocol, but that would be my recommendation. I'm not just saying that because I'm on your side. Meeting true-mates fucks with everyone's head, though, and you have to admit Melon has a wild streak almost too big for this world to hold."

"And the fucker is an omega," Casimir rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to see if Waj will pinch him for you?"

"Don't tempt me, Izora Moonscale," Casimir let out a laugh that reached his eyes, the first non-stoic expression he'd worn since arriving.

"You can stay tonight, maybe longer, but tomorrow and every day after you're going to have to check on your egg. That's your right and it's your ship."

"Castor's ship."

"Well, more yours than theirs – excluding the egg of course from that statement."

"He can sleep in any of the bedrooms except ours," Nycto yawned into my thoughts.

"Come on. My mate is wanting me to come back to bed. I'll show you where to sleep or actually," I glanced over at Waj, "he seems half ass nocturnal. He can show you. Take him to bed, Waj."

Waj waved for Casimir to follow him down the slide and he did without complaint.