Chapter 61: I can’t look weak
Cass couldn’t stop his body from shaking, even after a few moments of Draken holding him. He was worried that something was wrong with him. What if he’d been injured and he hadn’t noticed? The freaking wolf-dire wolf, had saliva that had eaten through his clothes. What if it ate through his skin?
"It’s alright, Cassian. You won’t be weak like this forever. I told you I would teach you magic, and now I have the time to do so." Draken murmured into Cass’ hair. His large, warm hands patted his back and Cass swallowed.
"You have time?" Cass asked and Draken rumbled.
"What? Did you think it was easy to train a fledgling? I’m impressed with myself that it only took a week for him to evolve. Either that, or he’d been a fledgling for a long time. Sadly, the kid keeps his mouth shut on anything I want to know, even if I threaten him." Draken grumbled. "But I made an adult out of him. He’s resting for a few more days. The first full shift takes a lot out of you. I rested for about two weeks after I shifted the first time. Knowing that he’s so worried, he’s not going to let himself rest that much. Give him light tasks for the next little bit." Draken told Cass and Cass nodded.
He heard what he was saying, but he wasn’t processing it completely. Draken appeared to be aware of that, and sighed.
"Should I even be speaking to you? Are you going to remember any of this later?" Draken wondered out loud and Cass swallowed. He took offense to his words.
"I just...I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a dire wolf before." The words felt strange coming out of his mouth. It didn’t feel like Lord Blackburn was speaking for him, but he was having an out of body experience. He wasn’t an expert by any means, but it could have been due to shock.
"Well, I don’t know what you were up to before we started traveling together over a year ago, but I’d say so. My presence alone should keep anything like this away. I should have warned Fiona about this. I didn’t think being away for a week would do something like this. We have a responsibility to the people here to make sure that they are safe, especially kids." Draken’s tone was firm, but growly. It sounded like he was ready to growl at any moment.
Snarl, snap, rend.
Cass felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Are you cold? Fuck, your clothes are torn to shreds. Do you have a cloak or something to cover yourself?" Draken asked and Cass shook his head. His mouth felt dry, and he’d stopped crying thankfully. Maybe his body was just lacking liquids.
"Draken, you’re a damn heater. I’m not cold. I think I...I think I’m just in shock." Cass told him and Draken snorted.
"You? In shock? You’ve faced off with scarier things while in my presence? You single handedly took down a lich before, Cassian." Draken told him and Cass felt himself begin to laugh.
That had been Lord Blackburn, not Cass. Even then, he felt Lord Blackburn would be in shock in this position as well.
"M-My magic wouldn’t...I couldn’t do anything beyond a fucking little spell." Cass told him and Draken froze.
"Oh. Of course. That would be shocking. Is there anything I can do?" Draken asked. "Maybe kill your guards for not protecting you? Where are they, anyways?" Cass felt a shiver run down his spine. Uh oh. Sir Forsythe was in grave danger right now.
"They were dealing with more of them. He told me to wait here. I didn’t." Cass said and Draken growled. The sound vibrated Cass’ whole body, as well as the carriage itself.
"No excuse. I would never leave my charge if I was tasked with guarding someone." Draken was pissed, and Cass clutched his hands against his skin.
"Draken." Cass said and felt the man freeze. "No one knows I can’t use my magic still. Not even my guards. Wouldn’t you feel fine leaving your super powerful mage charge alone if it meant that you could protect helpless children?" Draken tightened his grip around Cass.
"Are you a fucking idiot? You didn’t tell them? Cassian, they can’t protect you properly if they don’t-"
"-I can’t look weak." Cass cut him off and Draken let out a malicious laugh.
"I hate to break it to you, but you’re failing miserably at that if that is your mission, Cassian." Draken’s tone caused Cass to flinch. He fucking knew that, alright? He just...he couldn’t help it.
Lord Blackburn was having a hard go of it. His luck hadn’t been great, and he was sure that Lord Blackburn himself wasn’t super pleased with how Cass was conducting himself.
"Yeah, but at least they believe I can look after myself if danger arrives. That’s-that’s all I had going for me." Cass hated how weak he sounded, how weak he actually was. Here he was, relying on a fucking man.
Not just any man, the same fucking man who’d got him in this damn fucking mess. Fuck. He hated this.
"That’s not true. You also have money." Draken told him. Cass, shocked, tilted his head back, meeting the orange gaze of the dragon holding him. He was so genuine about that statement, and Cass found himself laughing. He covered his mouth, hiding his smile as he continued to laugh.
"You are so right, Draken. At least I also have money." He chortled, unable to help himself and Draken stared at him, his expression relaxing slightly. He bent, pressing his head against Cass’ shoulder and inhaling deeply.
"You seem to be better. Was money a good thing to mention? I appreciate such a trait in a partner. Hoarding is looked upon fondly by my people. Several of my siblings also prefer shiny things for their hoard. My broodmother collected sexual partners. My father apparently collected different types of plants." Draken offered up more information about him and Cass felt his heart quake.
It appeared that Lord Blackburn...had feelings about Draken’s words. What they were, Cass was ignoring.
The man should be allowed to have his own feelings if he could. They were sharing a body, but that didn’t mean Cass had to be a damn pervert.
"What do you hoard?" Cass asked and Draken chuckled.
"That, I will tell you if we grow closer. For now, I would like to keep some mystique about myself. I have a feeling if I tell you right away, you might run away." Worry filled him and Draken laughed. "It’s nothing dangerous. I just meant you’d have gotten your information. You said you liked being called a snake. I am attempting to be the same." He huffed. "Though I am not like a snake in many regards, alright? I may be reptilian in nature, but I am not-"
"-You are a reptile?" Cass asked, cutting him off. Draken froze. It appeared that Draken was about to go on a rant about snakes, and maybe were-snakes? Whatever the hell that meant, but Cass had to cut him off.
He couldn’t help it.
Draken hadn’t told him what he was yet, and this was the perfect opportunity to get him to feel awkward. If he didn’t want to tell Cass what he was outright, catching him right now would fuel Cass’ mischief bar easily. A big, scary man trying to dance around the fact that he was a dragon after admitting he was a reptile?
While it being clear that he was a giant creature of some kind no less?
This was comedy gold, and even if Cass was feeling confused, shocked, terrified, he couldn’t ignore such an easy hook. Draken had laid out on a silver platter and offered himself up to him. Who was Cass to say no?
Cass turned his gaze towards Draken, keeping his eyes big and his facial expression neutral. Draken’s expression, which had been sharp, looked distraught. His eyes were wide, the orange even more vibrant and Cass watched as his second eyelid flicked quickly across his eyes and Cass couldn’t take his eyes off of him.
"I would have thought you were a cat with the way...your eyes do that." Cass whispered and Draken swallowed.
"Uh, well, I, uh, I j-just share some traits with snakes, haha. J-Just some small...traits." Draken said, staring down into Cass’ expression and Cass had to fight not to laugh at the nervous response he’d gotten from him. He was panicking.
For some reason, he didn’t want to say he was a dragon. Was he worried that Cass was going to freak out? Was he worried that Lord Blackburn was going to freak out? Neither of them were going to.
So what if he was a giant, fire breathing creature from myth and legend who helped form the country that they currently lived in? That didn’t matter to Cass. To him, he was Draken. Annoying, dumb but smart Draken, who had swept in to save not only his ass, but his life today.
If he hadn’t been a dragon, he doubted that would have been able to happen. So, Cass wouldn’t be upset about that. Ever. Especially not now.