Jaek

Surprisingly, Jaekel did not have any dreams that night. Well, that was not entirely true. But he could not really remember it in the morning. Just a faint feeling of comfort. And a voice he could almost recall singing softly.

 He got dressed, and left to find Rune waiting on him. She smiled brightly at him immediately and he felt his heart jump. This was a good way to start the day. He flashed a smile at her and took her hand in his, "Slept well, Rune?"

 "Fairly well." Her eyes grew worried. "Did you?"

 "Surprisingly, yes." He chuckled. "I had no visions. I think I just had a regular dream for once."

 "That's wonderful!"

 He rubbed her head affectionately. His hand froze when he noticed something odd. Rune's cheeks had flushed. Even though this was something he had done many times before. Was she actually self-conscious with him now? Really? Since when?

 His own cheeks warmed in response. And he looked away, trying to get his expression under control. He wondered if she had noticed his response. Did it even matter? He did not really care if she knew how he felt.

 Just right then, he had been completely taken off guard.

 "Eh? Why are you two red?" Sylvanus had just come out of his room nearby and was gazing at them in curiosity. Jaekel cleared his throat and turned to look at the young male.

 To his surprise, Sylvanus's hair was still silver, though his eyes had once again changed color. They were a burning orange now.

 Rune, no longer blushing at all, looked at him in equal surprise. "Your hair is the same color it was yesterday."

 "That's because I'm halfway stabilized now." He grinned happily. "Once I'm fully stabilized, I'll be able to pick whatever color I want."

 "Is that so…?"

 He continued. "I'll probably do silver eyes. That's the color my eyes were when I was born."

 "What color was your hair?"

 "…I didn't have hair when I was born." He glanced at them, then tilted his head, "That's right. You all don't know my race. I stay in this form for two reasons: One, I can't turn back right now anyway and two, as the Protector's Heir this is the form associated with my role. But I'm not human in the slightest."

 "Are you actually going to tell us what you are?" Jaekel asked.

 "Sure. You all are my friends after all. I'm a dragon."

 "Somehow…I feel like that should surprise me more. But it does explain a few of my visions before I met you."

 "Hmm. I should have told you ages ago. But…"

 "I know. Your daily quirks?"

 "I sometimes forget what I haven't said."

 Rune interjected again. "May I ask why you can't take on your actual body?"

 "This is my actual body." He said. "…Think of it like the shapeshifting king's ability. No matter what shape he is in, he's still himself. Same here. However, right now, I am a bit… for lack of a better word, trapped in this one. It has to do with my difficulty with magic at the moment. Um, well, I guess technically I could turn back… just my family curse takes less of a toll if I am in this form. So as it worsened I stopped going out of it."

 "I see."

 "Is Nils up yet? I'll go see." He went over to the half-dragon's door and went to open it.

 "Shouldn't you knock first?"

 He furrowed his brow. "Why?"

 "…She's a girl."

 "So?" He tilted his head, looking utterly confused.

 The door came open and Niliah looked at Sylvanus. "Wind… seriously, you need to learn to knock."

 "Oh! Good. You are up!" He clapped his hands together happily. "Then let's all go eat breakfast!"

 Niliah sighed. "One of these days you will learn to knock – and wait for an answer – before entering."

 "Does it really bother you that much?"

 "Yes. Yes, it does." She walked past him. "You all coming?"

 Rena once again had a pretty good spread laid out for them. She smiled as they entered. "I suppose you all will be leaving today?"

 "Yes." Jaekel said as he sat down. "It would probably be better."

 He noted how her eyes lingered almost wistfully on his best friend. But she did not try to talk to her. He did not know quite what he thought of the fact that she was related to his Rune. But whatever Rune wanted to do about it, he would back her up.

 He gazed at his best friend, trying to gauge her mood. All of a sudden she turned and their eyes met. Once again, her cheeks slightly flushed. Almost immediately she looked away.

 Okay… he was almost positive now. She'd suddenly realized. When? And why though? What had spurred this sudden shift?

 He didn't care too much. Honestly, he was just glad she had realized. It did make it difficult on him to eat breakfast though, his stomach was in such knots. He was feeling more nervous than he had expected.