Page 29 of Legends and Longing

“We further classify dragons into our…regional history. There is a more specific English word for that. Ice. Water.” Klynn glanced between Agent Murphy and Shiloh. “Shiloh, I’m sure you have a better vocabulary for this conversation.”

Our mate only felt a short burst of panic before it shifted to a manageable level I knew indicated he would be able to talk and nodded slowly. “Yes, but you did a very good job of explaining it. Do…do you classify yourselves in terms of sexuality?”

Shock and additional panic radiated from him, but Klynn continued before Shiloh’s emotions could become overly visible. “No. Not in the way people of Earth do. It is generally explained here as knowing your mate will be male or female.”

Had he become familiar with our mate’s emotional struggles while he was on Earth?

“Oh.” Something curious came from Shiloh before he glanced between us, but I did not understand his thoughts. “That makes sense.”

Klynn seemed to think it did. “The English words for describing sexual desire may not translate completely. The people of Earth, especially humans, break it down into many more classifications than we currently use.”

Shiloh pushed through his shyness and continued to speak to Klynn, showing his familiarity with the dragon. “Do they just not exist here or you’ve never thought up words for them? On Earth anything beyond gay, straight, or bi seems to be mostly a human thing, but I wasn’t sure if that was because of the mate bond or cultural.”

How did this conversation fall into the logical category for him?

“That is an interesting question.” Klynn showed he was ready to be seated, causing Zorin to perform a human-looking wave toward his additional chairs. He was very focused on learning to use the English hand movements as well as the language because he was convinced they were too closely aligned to be separated.

I wasn’t sure what information they had been told about the invitation, but Klynn continued to give his attention to Shiloh as Zorin sat down on the other side of our mate. “I think it’s a combination of both, but I believe the mate bond is a larger influence. That is our primary focus and not exploring who we are in a larger sense.”

Agent Murphy spoke up to give his thoughts. “The type of dragon you are and what type of magic a mage uses best seem to be something your people are more focused on.”

Klynn’s clearly Earth nod had Zorin studying him more closely. “You do that?”

Shifting his shoulders to show his frustration, Klynn indicated how he saw that question. “That is not a clear question.”

Agent Murphy’s face twitched but I wasn’t sure what he was hiding until the faint feeling of laughter barely trickled through my bond with our Earth mate. Humor. Shiloh and Agent Murphy found Klynn and Zorin humorous.

Zorin would’ve performed the human shrug if he had been focused on Agent Murphy. “I require information.”

Was it more frustrating or less that I was not the only person he attempted to manipulate?

Shiloh still thought it was funny but I refused to react and give Zorin what the people of Earth would call ammunition.

“I am not the right person to practice human manipulation tactics on.” Klynn did not find humor in Zorin’s behavior. “I attempt to respond in visual ways so that Agent Murphy understands my thoughts quickly.”

His mental thoughts?

So they were mates but were not discussing it?

Was that a common trait in the people of Earth?

“It does allow for interesting additional ways of communicating.” Zorin stayed focused on the topic at hand instead of delving into his language theories. “More study will need to be done.”

It showed how much he wanted information from Klynn and Agent Murphy, but it did not tell me why they had been invited and exactly what information he was attempting to obtain.

Yes, as Shiloh said, we needed limits about springing things like this on mates and consequences for Zorin’s inability to follow those rules in the future. Because I thought we all knew he would not be able to follow rules that restricted his behavior and his demands for information.

Chapter 9

Shiloh

I blanked out as Klynn started talking about the importance of safewords, but unfortunately, my brain didn’t let me stay stupid for long.

“What other points of that type of Earth-based relationship do you need help communicating?” Klynn’s straightforward question startled my brain back into functioning.

We were just going to jump right into it?

God, they really weren’t human in any way.