Building Trust x Child

"Jinxing.."

One dragon and one human appraised each other.

"..."

"Enough staring. Come here."

Tian Ci took a step closer, and the human took a step back. 

"Jinxing.." Advancing in less than a stride, the dragon reached out calmly. 

"No!" Jinxing exclaimed, alarmed at the strange contact. The skin that was cool, soft, and completely unlike his own, sent sparks that radiated from his captive wrist and throughout his body. Yanking his arm away, he turned tail, running into the crowds of beasts and humans..

"..Watch it!" Stepping aside quickly, a dragon merchant squinted at the naked young man flying past. The only thing keeping the human decent was the overflow of dark hair that covered his essentials. He growled, wondering who would scare off such a prime companion. 

"Huh..making us dragons look bad..what fool let their human.."

Suddenly, a crushing weight bore down on his head. The portly dragon twisted his olive neck but no matter what could not raise it. Then, his speech left, and a cold sweat caused his tail to shiver. Ever so gracefully, a tall and snow hued man walked by. His gait was leisurely but each stride seemed to carry him several feet farther than should have been possible.

  A pair of sharp amethyst eyes narrowed as it regarded the merchant in passing.

"Count yourself lucky that I'm in a rush." 

The merchant met those eyes and dared not hold them for longer than a second. He looked instead at the black boots adorning the dragon's feet and the silver emblem adorning his clothes. The emblem and pressure surrounding that person, was to him unmistakable. He cried out, lowering his scaled body until it shamefully pressed into the dirt. Sobs rang out in muffled waves as he looked at the figure who was already blending into the crowds. Within those cries were the undertones of longing, disbelief, and elation. 

Tian Ci continued on his way without a further glance at the merchant behind him. Still, the ire in his eyes departed as he heard the cries and perceived their intent. 

.

.

An hour passed as the dragon caught up, neither hastening or intentionally lagging behind. The general's scent was long ago imprinted in his olfactory log. Even if the human traveled oceans, his dragon's nose would sniff him out.  Thus Tian Ci eventually found Jinxing trotting alone and without purpose. The male seemed to sense him and looked back with surprise, prepared to run blindly once more. 

"Stop!" 

Kicking up eddies of dust as he ran, Jinxing didn't listen at all, steps light and nimble against the sunlit road.  He seemed to be looking for something, pausing every few yards.

  "Big Dragon?"

Jinxing looked up at the wide open sky and the beaming pearl sun. He seemed confused, called again, and with no reply from above, called out in distress a few times. "Big dragon!" ___"..big dragon!!" 

In this strange time where nothing was familiar, his only certainty was that big dragon who had fought and followed him around. But now, even that big dragon was nowhere in sight..and now he was being chased. Did the dragon leave for good?

Thinking to this point, Jinxing stopped, at a loss of what to do. He couldn't speak properly and was in poor condition. Not to mention he didn't know exactly where he was..and there was no  Tower  or similar dwelling to return to. Camping out in the wilds was doable, but the  bustling thoroughfare of Eden was endless..

"Jinxing." 

Tian Ci watched each of Jinxing's movements carefully. As the apex predator of apex predators, it wasn't hard to figure out after quiet observation; What a human was thinking..what a human was feeling. Coming to the conclusion, he stood at a distance and looked condescending. "Little fool." He called out with his original form's voice, the beastial timbre causing the human's ears to perk up.

Surprised, Jinxing stared at this ephemeral being whose amethyst eyes shined like fireflies. It felt oddly familiar. Even the dragon irises were the same. Coupled with that onyx hued hair that sparkled under sunlight, that onyx shade which mirrored a certain big dragon's scales, Jinxing finally calmed down, even while he met those eyes cautiously. 

"..not a little fool." Still hesitant, Jinxing drew near, sizing up the tall and chiseled form draped in black and silver.

Tian Ci remained still, letting himself be scrutinized. The human approached step by step until they were only a hand's width away, then reached out to touch the single black scale gleaming on that hand.

"Big dragon..?" Jinxing held the dragon's hand with both of his own. After touching for a bit, he looked up. 

"Of course. Who else would follow you?"  The dragon used his other hand to ruffle that head of jet black hair, making a mess of it as he chuckled. Being so rough he got a punch thrown his way, Tian Ci smiled. All of his anxiety faded away. 

"You're really a silly little thing."  Tian Ci hummed, taking the offending fist into his hand and kneading it into something less violent..

Jinxing walked hand in hand with the dragon, while checking him out from time to time. "Dumb dragon. Why changed?" He stared down at their joined palms, curious about the gesture of hands touching hands. The big dragon on two legs had an ethereal look, carved from clear jade, exuding a fierce aura..and yet, that hand with it's black and sharp nails felt warm and not at all dangerous..the dragon's nails didn't even scratch him despite closing around his hand. 

"That's why you're a little fool." When quiet, the dragon seemed like a beautiful statue. When speaking, clearly a rough and unpolished wildness was contained. He was definitely a beast of power and prestige, veiled in mischief, dominance, and a natural air of caprice. The many ages hadn't leeched the spirit of his youth. Thus, he wasn't beneath mincing words with the general at all, and didn't bother with trying to look astute. "..Are you trying to get a beating?" Even if the human sounded innocent and sweet, he knew this human thought himself the more intelligent one. "This is my second form."

"Second form?" 

"Yes. Humans don't have one." He looked smug. "..You can't turn into a big dragon." 

While sparsely chatting, the dragon led them through a network of alleys, thinking it best to keep the general away from prying eyes. The alleys were narrow and split by clear waterways and overhead buildings. The inherent shade and sound of water were soothing. He could tell by the gentle strum of the little heart beating beside him.

Following the mood, he casually asked. "What are you staring at? Surely you held hands with another at some point.."

Jinxing looked up from their hands and squinted, wanting to say many things but not able to. "..never, held hands.." Parsing the language of the Human Empire..to the language of beasts was no easy task. In the end he could only look down in frustration, long lashes fluttering. "..dumb big dragon.."

"It's a compliment to be called 'Big' anything, in this world. But humans don't call dragons this way. Do you remember my name?" 

Jinxing was quiet. 

"Come on. Give it a try.." 

"Ci Ci." 

"Ci Ci.."

..Ci Ci!" 

Jinxing chirped the name a few times and seemed to like it's ring. Especially since it made that big dragon show a strange expression. In the absence of movement, Jinxing was restless and lightly pulled at the dragon's robes. For Tian Ci, that guileless and pleasant tone had rendered him speechless. It tickled his senses, vibrating in his ears and traveled all the way to his chest. Recalling that human speech had the power to weave  spells, he grew cautious. "What's your motive,  General.." 

Tian Ci narrowed his eyes, letting go of their joined hands abruptly. In the shade of a domed building the color of redwood, the dragon leaned down and looked into his eyes. "..were you planted in Eden on purpose?" 

  Jinxing held his gaze and blinked. He could neither fathom the dragon's doubts nor understand all of his words, taking their stare off for what it was and nothing more. In fact, he had his own concerns, touching his belly and quivering a bit. 

"H..h..hun.."

Tian Ci nodded and urged him to speak. "Go on. I don't plan on killing you." Although a knot formed in the pit of the dragon's stomach, he would rather know of the other side's machinations before they came to fruition. In any case..he wouldn't let a general slip out of his grasp no matter what. 

"Hu..hun.."

"Hun? Was that the name of your teacher? Your sect?" 

"..Hun..ru.."

Tian Ci grew impatient. He clamped a hand down forcefully on the human's shoulder and growled. "Spit it out.." 

"Dumb dragon!" Hurt, Jinxing jerked his shoulder away and frowned in pain. 

This only enraged the dragon further and he lunged. "Speak!" 

A burst of golden light suffused the general and lifted him off the ground. He spread his arms with an upset cry as an energy beam thrust the dragon through the walls of a nearby building..  "HUNGRYYYY!" 

Tian Ci blinked, then gracefully left the crater that held his outline. Were it not for his inner turmoil he would have sensed the surge of energy and moved away easily. But he didn't have a scratch on him and all his vital organs were in tact. The building that had become his mold didn't fare so well, lying in a heap of sand colored ruins and drew a smattering of different beings. 

"You're getting soft, General. The celestial laser  that I remember from your predecessors, would have seared earth and sky." 

Jinxing looked down, breathing heavily. He had exerted himself and could only slide down the wall and sit on his butt in response.

"Jinxing..hungry.." His eyes watered. He felt extremely wronged.  "..hungry..Ci Ci.." It was only then that the dragon noticed his miserable appearance, the belly he pointed to slowly protruding inward and sticking to his back. Hearing a mangled growl, Jinxing drew his mouth into a pout and swallowed. His stomach acids were already churning and scorching his belly. 

Tian Ci's eyes widened. He phased in front of the young male in only the time it took to blink. His dragon eyes scanned the human from top to bottom, their distance close as he inhaled his scent deeply and repeatedly. Jinxing fussed and tried to push the dragon away, but the human continued to be investigated.

Truth be told, human exteriors had little interest to a dragon. Humans came in various colors and designs, but all was the same once you ripped off the skin. Therefore, what attracted them most was.. scent, sound, and texture. The scent of a human could be 'alluring' or 'repellent'..it could be 'sweet' or 'foul'. As for texture..some had spongy bones and skin that felt like stretched leather, while others had brittle bones and skin that felt like silk. The sound of a human's voice might grate on one dragon's ears and enrage them, but melt another's into a docile and amiable mood. 

So Tian Ci had not paid too much attention to what Jinxing looked like at first. But now that he  was  looking as human's did..he saw that this caramel skin reminded him of honey; rich and deep and made him want to have a bite. As for now however, that skin seemed to sag in certain places, missing the vital fat a person had when eating properly. The face looking up at him was sunken in, small, and the mane of curly locs held dust as they cascaded down to his calves. He  smelled  of morning dew and honey suckle; he  sounded  soft and wanton; he  felt  supple and warm.

All around a beautiful little thing, albeit starved and injured..and silly. 

"Ci Ci!" 

Tian Ci paused, leaving his reverie. Somewhere along the line his sniffing had turned to stroking and Jinxing would have none of it. The human clamped his hands over the dragon's, looking fierce but tolerant, weak but irritable. He didn't really have the strength to fend off a fly at the moment, but he could use his voice. 

"You did well to hide your current state. But that was foolish." Tian Ci chided, looking over that small face with smooth brows, fox shaped eyes and plush lips. Those extremely bright and light brown eyes flickered with alarm.

"With those internal injuries, you wouldn't have made it past tonight." Hearing this, Jinxing quickly tried to scramble away, but firm hands with slender fingers wrapped him up and held him close. Pressed against the dragon's chest, Jinxing yelped and stretched his arms to throw a few punches. Tian Ci raised an eyebrow, patting the bare buttocks he was now supporting. "Stop that. I already said I won't kill you." 

"Wuu.."

"Don't whine. I'm going to feed you." 

The flailing stopped. "Food?"

"Yup." 

"For Jinxing?" 

"There isn't anyone else.." 

"Ci Ci!" Overwhelmed with emotions he could not describe, Jinxing settled for calling the dragon's name.  Tian Ci chuckled and entered the back door of a red clay dwelling, it's exterior enveloped in vines and surrounded by a tall tree.

Within was direct entry into a sunlit living room. Cushioned seats and polished crystal floors accented a similarly colored table, white stone kitchenette, and staircase leading to the second level. The two males looked strange in the domestic setting, one's eyes big and looking left and right, the other, sniffing lightly at the air. Not smelling any intruders, Tian Ci released the tension in his brows and put the human down to walk around. 

"Go and sit on the cushion. You're dehydrated and malnourished."

Since food was about to be brought, Jinxing nodded quickly and jumped into the large cushioned chair. The softness cradled his frail and naked form, lulling him into a state of calm. From the window pouring in sunlight, the light brown eyes reflected dragons and humans walking to and fro. Tian Ci entered the kitchen and casually whipped up a drink and brought fruit from cold storage. When he returned he held a steaming silver mug, and a light pink fruit the size of four palms. That fruit made Jinxing's eyes widen, and he reached out graciously, held it with both hands, and planted white teeth into it's flesh. A layer of ice had covered it, so the smell of sweetness and frost mixed pleasantly. The pink juice flowed into his mouth..nourishing, fresh, with a hint of tartness. He both ate and drank the large fruit, lips and fingertips stained pink.

Tian Ci sat down. "..is it good?"

"Mm!"

"This is a dragon peach. Regulated humans can't eat them. If you really aren't at the level of  General, you'll die."

Jinxing continued to suck and slurp, biting into the firmer parts of the peach and sinking his teeth in before ripping it off and munching with stuffed cheeks. His ferocity and innocence were amusing, so Tian Ci took a seat, crossed his legs and watched him. When even the core had been devoured by a little mouth, the dragon stood up and handed over the cup. "Drink. This is called serpent tea. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that it's not for normal humans.."

Jinxing began to drink the steaming liquid, making no attempt to cool it off. He showed no signs of stopping even as his lips turned red, the throat and tongue receiving quite the sear..

"Are you trying to die?" Showing up abruptly in his line of sight, the dragon snatched the silver mug, ignoring the plaintiff cry that followed. Growling when the human got close to take it back, he continued.  "The heat from this tea is special..you'll burn more than your mouth.."  Looking at the big and watering eyes in front of him, Tian Ci raised a brow. Rather than blister and peel, the skin of the human's lips just remained a stinging red and became a little swollen. The throat that received the same abuse was red but showed no great damage. Sighing, the dragon stuck his tongue into the mixture. The clouds of heat lessened by several degrees. He handed the cup back and wrapped the male on the head. "Use your magic to cool it." 

"Mine." Snatching the cup back, Jinxing wantonly declared and stuck his tongue in as the dragon had. He lapped at the sweet liquid with all the grace of a cub, getting openly laughed at by a dragon for awhile. 

"Eat a little more. I'm going to heal you after." Heading toward a bookshelf by the window, Tian Ci retrieved a leather bound journal and flipped through the pages. A depression in the shape of a square was present in the middle of the book. It housed a teardrop pendant held by gold thread. The stone was citrine in color, and seemed to softly glow on it's own. Tian Ci brought this to Jinxing and gently held it up to be seen. 

"This.." With red lips from his foray into questionable foods, Jinxing managed to pull away from nutrition long enough to speak. He pointed at the dangling item. It shimmered and looked inviting. The gold hue matched the diamond mark just above his brows. 

"It's a spirit stone. The light inside of it is alive. Both of you have similarities, to a person from my past..but this thing..never responds to me at all." Tian Ci carefully explained, controlling his tone with a practiced precision. Jinxing looked at the item..and then at the dragon holding it with a strained expression.

Jinxing held out both his hands. "..Want."

Tian Ci at some point had been gazing at the stone and looked up abruptly. Anger and pain lingered there, emotions Jinxing had yet to see so blatantly in the dragon's eyes. Drawn in, he approached and stood on tiptoes to look deeper. The tip of their noses bumped and Jinxing blinked, curious.

"Fight?" 

"No. I don't want to fight. Just recalling a very old wound, is all." The dragon slowly pulled away. "That blood lust wasn't for you..but for the one that caused me to even need this blasted stone." 

"Hurt?" Jinxing looked him up and down for a bit. "Not hurt..dumb dragon." 

"There are wounds that do not bleed, little fool." 

"Not a little fool."

"But you are a silly thing.."

"Fight!" 

"Don't start. Eat and behave. I'm still waiting to see if you die in a few hours." 

"Want stone." 

"I only showed it without thinking. Forget it." 

"Want!" 

"No." 

Jinxing didn't know his limits and could feel some energy after eating and drinking. Thus, he tackled the big dragon, ending up hoisted over the shoulder where his butt was slapped repeatedly. Although he endured a grave injustice, the force of a dragon's palm no small matter, his consolation was the citrine pendant, the glittering item nabbed on the sly between his teeth.

"Evil dragon.." A spanked Jinxing sat his naked cheeks on a silk cushion and looked viciously at the dragon sitting across from him. Tian Ci laughed openly, feeling good about dealing some punishment, uncaring of later consequences.

In a good mood, it quickly plummeted once he saw the object between those vermilion lips. 

"Jinxing." Tian Ci growled, a warning to return the pendant to his hand. 

Jinxing only briefly looked at him before the stone in his palm shined with brilliance. The dragon stood up. "Jinxing!" 

The shining pendant rose on it's own and laid itself around the human's neck. Jinxing looked on curiously as though it had nothing to do with him. Stroking it gently, he gazed in a trance for a few minutes, at which point Tian Ci could do nothing but watch helplessly. Myriad emotions flowed through the dragon's eyes, first shock, then concern, and an indescribable pain. So lost was the dragon that he only came out of it when something lightly tapped his head. 

"Ci Ci.."

"Ci Ci.."

Tian Ci blinked and looked at a clear eyed Jinxing. The pendant around his neck had gone dark and was now the color of amber. It looked just like an ordinary stone.

The dragon snarled. "Where is he!" 

"Stone?"

"NO! The SOUL inside of it!" 

"Inside."

"What?"

"Inside!"

Tian Ci blinked. "You..ate him?"

"No eat. Dumb dragon. Soul said it wants Jinxing. Likes me." Jinxing spoke with far more eloquence than before. It was clear that something occurred between the soul stone and himself. The dragon who was on the verge of blind fury and about to commit violence, slowly let out a breath and looked at the human's chest. He closed his eyes and could see with his second sight, an unmistakable silver energy, swirling inside. His expression cooled. "The fact that he accepted you..only furthers my suspicions.."

Jinxing could care less about what the dragon was talking about, and got up since his cheeks no longer stung. Raiding the cold storage for another dragon peach, he blissfully sat on a smooth mahogany stool to eat again.

A fuzzy and luminous ball slowly emerged from Jinxing's chest, squeezing it's way out from his heart and floating around. It was the color of snow and furry and had two small amethyst eyes. It danced around Jinxing and mewled a few times. The general stopped his slurping and nodded. "Eat with Jinxing." The snow ball complied and nibbled on the other side of the large fruit eagerly. 

Watching one fur ball and one human eat up his provisions, the dragon snorted and walked over. "Come. I need to examine you both properly." He reached out casually and took the fur ball as it floated and ate. It immediately cried a few times, making 'ao ao ao' sounds.

What happened next caught the general's attention and he put down his food. For every 'ao ao' the fur ball made, the dragon would growl softly, in a way that sounded more like speech than an auditory warning. The two seemed to converse briefly, before the snow ball floated up and sat obediently on the dragon's head. 

Jinxing looked wronged. "My ball. Not Ci Ci's"

Tian Ci raised his chin slightly. "Little fool. It was my ball first. And isn't a ball anyway." 

Approaching the two, Jinxing looked up and into the little amethyst eyes as they blinked at him, and at the little mouth that mewled softly from it's high place on a dragon's head.

"Not ball?"

"No."

"..What.."

"He's called Yin Yun. Tian Yinyun. It means, 'silver cloud', in your tongue." 

Jinxing looked dejected as the furry creature rolled atop the dragon's silk head and nestled in. He couldn't explain why his chest tightened when seeing the little thing. It really reminded him of something.. "Yinyun..is Ci Ci's minion?" 

"Not exactly."

Shifting his gaze, Tian Ci turned towards the staircase and began to ascend. Jinxing followed quickly behind him.

As the creak of old wood filled the pregnant silence, the dragon sighed. 

"He's my son."