Chapter 24: Meeting the family

Qualin

Several small dragons appeared out of thin air, all dropping on or around Minor. They were all varying shades of reddish brown, though I noticed they all had a unique white, star-like pattern on their brows.

They playfully pounced and nipped at each other, yipping and giggling. Then one of them seemed to notice me. It was the largest in the group, about a head taller than Minor as they stood on all fours, and just slightly taller than me while seated.

They took a couple steps forward and sniffed the air. They had what looked like a curious smile on their face.

"Hello." I waved and smiled brightly. I felt awkward and out of place but wanted to make a good impression on Minor's family.

Suddenly, one of the others came bounding towards me. I instinctively pulled back, just slightly, but Minor reacted. It was a strange sensation, feeling his presence in my mind suddenly bristle in my defense. It wasn't like there was any real danger. This was his sibling, right? My unease was mostly subconscious, and yet he picked up on it. That level of connection and care from another being would take some getting used to.

The same instant I felt his reaction, he also began to snarl and looked as if he was going to lunge at his playful-looking sibling. Before I could say anything, the largest one let out a yip and the other four all froze and turned to them.

They snorted, the gust of breath stirring a little dirt, then turned and bounded towards the fallen fiend. The others all followed, including Minor.

Watching them was interesting. For one thing, I quickly noticed that more and more of Minor's family kept showing up. I quickly lost count, especially with them playing, fighting, and jumping around. The other thing was, if i didn't know better, I would have easily assumed they were just a pack of wild animals.

'We are wild animals...' Minor's soft voice chimed in my head. He sounded so tentative and self-conscious.

He was adorable. I chuckled a little. 'It's rather amusing.' I thought, still a little unsure of how telepathy worked. A soft, crooning sound responded. I wished I could reach out and touch him. There was suddenly a gentle pressure in my mind. It was warm and sent a tingling sensation through my body.

I wanted to respond, to reciprocate the feeling, but wasn't sure how to. Then a voice to my left pulled my attention away from the connection.

"Hello." A rather beautiful woman was standing a few steps away and smiling down at me. She had olive skin and black hair, with canine ears and a trail. A white, four-point star went from her hairline to between her eyes. "I'm Stared-one, Minor's mother."

"I can see the resemblance." It wasn't sarcastic. I had never seen Minor as that particular race, whatever it was, but something about her eyes and her smile looked familiar. Brushing the thought aside, I added with a grin, "I'm Qualin, Minor's partner..." That still felt weird to say, and the sudden realization that I had said it so casually to his mother made me feel self conscious.

"Yes, I've heard a lot about you." She chuckled lightly and smiled as she sat down beside me. Taking a bag from over her shoulder, she lifted the top flat and tipped it over. Half a dozen palm-sized dragons came tumbling out.

"Whoa..." I watched as they began sniffing around and playfully tackling and nipping at each other. Their little squeaks and chirps were pretty cute. I reached out, wanting to pick one up, but stopped short. These weren't pets, but probably her babies. Minor's younger siblings...

"It's alright, you can hold them. But careful, they're teething and their teeth are kinda sharp."

She wasn't kidding. While I was busy paying attention to her, one of them pounced on my outstretched hand. The little fangs didn't quite break skin, but they felt like needles.

"Ah, hey..." I grabbed it around the middle with my other hand and pulled it off. They trilled and wriggled. I tried setting them down but they clung to my hand and began climbing up my arm. I tried pulling them off again, but was worried about being too rough.

"It's alright." Their mother giggled. "They're tough, you won't hurt them." she pinched the one on my arm by the scruff of the neck, just with her thumb and forefinger and pulled it free. They hung there, pawing the air but looking un-bothered. "Now, be nice, Winter Storm."

"Winter Storm?" I raised my eyebrows.

"That's right. Transformers often name their children after things in nature, especially to match physical characteristics or personality traits. In this case, see the white pattern on his brow? The angle? Kinda looks like snow blowing in a blizzard. Plus, from the moment he hatched, he's been energetic and a bit aggressive." She chuckled, "Just like his twin," she grabbed another baby by the tail, "Meteor Storm. See, he even has a similar pattern, but the star marks are a little larger with fewer streaking at a steeper angle?"

"Hmm. Kinda does look like meteors. And these two are twins? Minor also said he has a twin..."

"That's right. Major. Twins run on their dad's said of the family."

"But there are like six of them?"

She giggled. "Litters are normal. Transformers will have between one and ten babies at a time. But twins mean they came from the same egg, and are identical. They also tend to be smaller, but Draco has proven that doesn't necessarily mean weaker."

"So Minor's dad is also a twin. Huh." I glanced up again and noticed even more of Minor's family had arrived. At least, I assumed they were all his family.... the range of species was becoming pretty diverse. Several looked like beast people; at a glance several of them could have been from my world, but I could see their energies were different. I was starting to get an idea of what transformer energy looked like, and was wondering if a few of these individuals actually were different species.

One male in particular caught my attention. he, a woman, and three children appeared out of nowhere, each with a set of red dragon wings on their back. as they began walking, the wings pulled in and disappeared. Weird enough, but the man's energy was the strangest. He gave me the impression of being much larger than he appeared. his energy also seemed to flicker like flames around him. Very strange.

Not sure if he noticed me staring, but he called out to me. "Hey! new guy!" He smiled and walked over. The woman he appeared with seemed preoccupied telling the children not to wander too far. "So, you feeling overwhelmed yet?" He chuckled, stopping a few feet away.

He seemed a bit cocky but friendly. "I'm doing just fine. Guess this is a pretty big family though."

"Yeah, I stopped trying to keep track." He waved his hand dismissively. "There are several dozen. I still can't keep all the babies straight. But don't worry, everyone is pretty nice, and if Draco hasn't tried to eat you yet, you'll probably be fine." He chuckled and gave a wink.

"Oh stop it!" The woman he came with playfully slapped his arm. "Daddy did not try and eat you."

"Oh, right, that was you." He laughed.

"Well, you are part demon, so you can't really blame me. But, I did save you, since you're so cute." She tweaked his nose and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Lucky me." he wrapped his arms around her waist, looking like he wanted more, but she twisted around to face me. "Don't let Tanaka or any of the others scare you. Daddy is really nice."

"He did try to banish me when i partnered with your sister." A male voice chimed in and I noticed a small blue and black dragon settle on a boulder nearby. The voice sounded male and his energy was oddly electric.

"Me too!" Another male voice called out but i couldn't find the source in the crowd. Several voices echoed laughter.

"Yeah, poor Kavo. You probably had it the hardest since Keari was the oldest and first to partner. But Daddy is much more relaxed now." The same female continued. "He hardly gave Tanaka any trouble. How about you?"

She smiled at me and waited expectantly. That was when I realized I hadn't seen Draco since he left me in my cell. He had been friendly, and even said he would be alright with his son being with someone like me. So he would probably be fine, right?. I remembered him saying some of his sons-in law were probably still scared of him and I couldn't help but laugh.

"He seemed to like me just fine. Kinda seemed like a push over." I shrugged dismissively with a half-cocked smile.

"Oh really." It was Draco's voice. directly behind me. I hadn't even noticed him appear but now I could feel his body heat against my back.

Shit. Why do I always have to be a smart ass?

I tilted my head back and looked straight up. Draco was looking down at me with an unamused expression.

Oh well. Minor said he had a good sense of humor so he couldn't be that mad at a little teasing. Best to just play it off. "Oh, hey. How you doin'?" I gave a charming smile and waved.

"Humph." He glared at me, his arms crossed, like he was trying to make up his mind.

"Be nice, sweetie, besides, you are a push over when it comes to the kids."

"Well, yeah, with OUR kids." His whole demeanor changed, becoming much more relaxed. He stepped away from me and sat behind his partner, kissing the top of her head. she nuzzled back against him.

"Well we're family too, right, DAD?" The one called Tanaka teased.

"Yeah, yeah." Draco shrugged, but was trying to hide a smile.

"Don't worry." Tanaka gestured to me again." His whole 'alpha male' thing calms down once you give him a couple grandkids." He laughed.

"Yeah, he gave me a hard time at first, but completely changed his tune the moment he held his first grandson." Kavo added, nodding his head emphatically.

"That wasn't the only reason...it helped....but it wasn't the only reason I calmed down." Draco raised his head, placing a hand on his chest. "I've also just matured and grown as an individual. I have a much easier time accepting change. And," he picked up one of the little baby dragons. "It's also easier to let go of my babies when i have new little babies." He nuzzled the cooing babe.

"So the next challenge will be when we have our very last litter and to have to accept having an empty nest." Stared-one pouted, batting her eyes and whining softly.

"Shush! That's a long, long time from now." Draco put a finger to her lips before picking up another baby and smiling. "We've only had three litters. I think we should have at least a dozen."

Everyone laughed. Several of the babies suddenly bolted in different directions, but they're parents caught them without blinking.

"We'll see how we're doing in four or five decades." Stared-one laughed, "And if we can still keep up at that point."

This family certainly seemed entertaining. Though, the conversation reminded me of the difference between myself and Minor. Not only the vast differences in lifestyles, but also that his lifespan is apparently much longer as well. Not to mention the fact that I can't give him kids.

"There's only the one girl in the second litter, right?" Tanaka asked, looking a little embarrassed. "I know it's been a few years, but i still get a little mixed up. Stardust, right?" He looked up at me, as if i could give confirmation.

"I have no idea. I really haven't met any of Minor's siblings."

"Minor's?" He looked at his partner. "I thought Minor was a boy?"

"He is." She smiled. "And apparently, so is his partner." she turned to me with a bright expression.

She was actually kind of breathtaking. Her auburn hair was slightly curly and framed her oval face and beautiful golden green eyes. Her skin was flawless and her shape luscious. Her voice and mannerisms were also cute and flirty. It was funny that I didn't find her the slightest bit tempting. In my eyes, no one could compare to Minor.

"My name is Flyer, by the way."

"Qualin. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She pulled away from her partner and gracefully sat beside me. "Well, welcome to the family. It'll take a while to for you to meet everyone, and even longer to learn who everyone is, but let me give you the run down: there are ten of us in the first litter. We've all found our partners and most of us have kids of our own, but we still all stay in touch and get together like this every once in a while. There are five in Minor's litter, and he is the first to partner, so congratulations. I'm sure you'll get to know all of them soon enough.

Rank wise, Mom and Dad are obviously at the top. Dad may rule the kingdom, but mom rules him."

"Naturally." Stared-one commented with a smile. Draco laughed and then nodded his head.

"Next in line is Moonbeam, from my litter. Then the rest of us in various orders, but you don't need to worry about that. In Minor's litter, Galaxy is charge-"

"Eventually, I'll take Moonbeam's spot." A male voice called out and I turned to see the same large dragon that had first appeared, who Minor and the others had followed.

***

Minor

I know I shouldn't have been so nervous. My family is wonderful, but I could tell Qualin was nervous. I didn't want to invade his thoughts too much but I could feel him reaching out to me in certain moments. It would be totally reasonable for him to think my family is overwhelming, crazy, even a bit abrasive...

All I wanted to do was go and sit with him and make sure everyone was nice.

'He's fine. No one is going to hurt your friend.' Galaxy's voice rang in my head as he pushed me back with his body and mentally blocked me from teleporting. 'Eat. you need to replenish yourself.'

'I'm fine. I just want to check on him. And he's not just my friend. He's my partner.'

'I know. And he's fine. You don't need to coddle him. Let him have a chance to meet our family and get used to things.' He playfully nuzzled me, still stopping me from rushing to Qualin's side.

I whined but couldn't argue. However, I continued to pay close attention, making sure Qualin wasn't too uncomfortable.

The actual meal was over pretty quickly. It was a bit surprising that the entire family showed up when there wasn't nearly enough to go around. But it was soon really obvious that everyone was really here to meet my partner.

Nearly all of my siblings and many of their partners and older children jumped on me to playfully nuzzle and congratulate me. A few seemed a bit confused that Qualin was male. Some did ask to confirm his gender... and mine.

'Are they like Binder's partner? She started off as male, right?' My big brother, Swimmer, asked telepathically, half pinning me under his weight while looking at Qualin curiously.

'Kyung Mi was always female. She was just born with a male body.' Binder's voice rang in our heads. 'That guy is obviously male.' My big brother walked up to me with a serious expression. Binder could be a bit harsh and was all about what was best for the family. 'Are you happy with a male partner?'

'Yes.' I raised my head and projected as much confidence as possible with my answer.

'Good.' He smiled and playfully butted his head against mine.

'It is a little weird, two males...?' I knew Swimmer wasn't trying to be mean, but it still stung a bit.

'I know....I tried to see if I could transform into a female, but it didn't work.' I was trying not feel self conscious. I knew I loved Qualin with all my heart and nothing could change that, but a part of me was still worried about what my big brothers would think.

Swimmer stared at me for a moment, then roughly nuzzled under my chin, lifting my head so high my forepaws were nearly off the ground. 'Don't worry!' His cheerful, deep voice filled my head, 'if anyone gives you a hard time will tear 'em apart!'

'Naturally, if you don't kill 'em first.' Binder snorted in his matter-of-fact way, then joined Swimmer in lifting my head with his own until the two of them had me practically upright on my hind legs.

I couldn't help laughing. Then Shooter tackled me from behind. He would have knocked all of us over except Swimmer was strong enough to hold us up. Then Major joined the pile up and we all tumbled over. Honestly, he was the one I really wanted to introduce to my partner.

'So can we meet him now!' Shooter asked impatiently. He had wanted to meet, and probably tackle, Qualin from the start. Thankfully Galaxy had stepped in. 'Can we, come on!'

Galaxy let out a loud snort. He was the only one besides mom and dad that could keep Shooter in check. I watched as he turned to look at Qualin. In all the commotion I hadn't noticed that our sister, Flyer, was talking to him. That figured. She was always very welcoming. Currently, she seemed to be explaining the top ranking members in the family.

'I think it is time to see how he fits with the rest of us.' Galaxy started walking toward them. Before I could react, his mind pressed against mine, holding me in place. 'Dont worry, I'll be nice. But don't interfer.'