Wish (Scales 'n' Spells 3)

Really fucking cold, but still, nice people.

“I think we need to split up a bit, ja?” Warin suggested to Gunter. “Why don’t you figure out how to get us from here to Sonthofen? I think renting a car might be best.”

Gunter nodded around a mouthful of food. “I figured as much since you mentioned wanting to taking North shopping for more winter-appropriate clothes.”

Warin gave North an affectionate smile tinged with worry. “He’s shivering almost constantly. The coat he has on isn’t sufficient for our climate.”

North smiled a little sheepishly back at him. “And here I thought I was hiding my chill so well from you.”

“You’ve got a death grip on that coffee mug, Schatz,” Warin pointed out with amusement.

“Warmth is friend,” North explained gravely. “Warmth is good.”

Perfectly serious, Gunter threw in, “Get him gloves, scarf, and a hat, too.”

Warin nodded back, equally serious. “Ja, gut. Come, Schatz, we’re going shopping. Munich is one of my favorite towns to shop in.”

Breakfast done, they all more or less stood at the same time, leaving the café. Outside on the sidewalk, Warin caught North’s hands in both of his and breathed onto them. It was a sweet gesture from a human, but from a dragon, it actually did warm him right down to his toes for a moment. North basked in the flood of warmth, eyes falling to half-mast. “You’re more effective than a pocket warmer.”

Chuckling, Warin placed one of North’s hands into his pocket and drew him along. North happily held hands with him, burrowing his free hand into the lonely pocket on his other side.

North matched his stride, sneaking peeks up at Warin’s profile. It was a very nice profile with that aquiline nose and high cheeks. He wanted to say so much to this man, but the words all tangled in his throat and he didn’t know how to voice them. How do you say, Thank you for thinking so much of me? Or You’re incredibly sexy and I want to kiss you more, but I don’t want to come off as too eager and scare you away.

He’d never had a boyfriend. He’d never had that experience of being in a relationship. North didn’t really know how to approach this. He just knew he wanted things, that his heart demanded things, and Warin was the source of it all. And really, who could resist Warin? Aside from his general sexiness, he was thoughtful, patient, kind, and kissed like sin.

Were all dragons as caring as this one, or had North lucked out in having Warin’s scale as a family heirloom?

“Here, this should be good.” Warin led them into what seemed to be a clothing boutique, specializing in winter gear. The door gave a soft chime as they walked through, the employees smiling in greeting, but Warin ignored them. He ignored all of the many brown, grey, and black coats hanging on the racks as well. He went straight for a rack of red coats and only then released North’s hand to rifle through it. “What size are you? Oh, right, American sizes work different. Hmm, this one might be the right fit. Let’s try it.”

North stared at the coat in bewildered amazement. Never in his life had someone done that, offered him a coat of this bright shade. He was a touch slow in taking off his own jacket, hanging it on the edge of a rack to free up his arms. Warin helped put the coat on him, shrugging it up and into place. It was an incredibly nice coat, a thick wool dyed fire engine red with black buttons and a hint of fur around the hood. He looked it over and felt tears burn his eyes. It was beautiful and no one else in his family, not even Gramps, would have thought to choose this for him.

“Oh.” Warin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “You don’t like it? Would you like another color? Maybe green or blue. I thought with your coloring…”

“You handed me a red coat,” North replied, trying to find the words to explain his own reaction and not come off like a crazy person. “You’re…the first ever to hand me something colorful. Every other person in my life, they want to buy me black or denim or camouflage.”

Warin stared at him in confusion, thick brows beetling together. “But you like color.”

This man had known him not even twenty-four hours, and already he saw North so much more clearly than people who had known him for decades. Who had watched him grow up. How insane was that?

“I love color. It’s just that I’ve always had to fight for that, the color in my wardrobe. And it became this huge sore point with my family. They think color as being too gay, and that anything bright on a man isn’t right. They’re constantly trying to tone me down. I’m just really happy that you…God, I’m not making sense.”