James was an idiot. Sure, he had his moments, but no one ever questioned how dumb he was because that fact, and that fact alone, was the only constant about him. He was terrible at making decisions, absolutely unreliable in monetary situations, probably an in closet drunk, and… well… mostly he was noble, but noble in that storm makes suicidal. I couldn’t leave this guy alone for a second with him almost dying by putting himself in front of an arrow or a sword or… or a ballista! 

“Kiri?” James asked with an awkwardness in his voice.
“What?” I quipped back, just as annoyed as I should’ve been.
“You’re- um,” he stammered, “I think, uh, you’re done healing me?” 

I suddenly pulled back as I realized I had zoned out and was resting my hand on his chest after I was done healing him. 

“Oh,” I said, embarrassed, “Sorry.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” he said and cleared his throat, “We should probably get ready for that second raid.”
“Yeah, yeah, we should.” 

God, I didn’t want to remember that moment, but it was the only thing I could think about the next few hours while James and I set up all manner of traps, defenses and counter weapons until Oxle and Lolliyant came out of the cave. I dismissed the fact that Oxle was damp for my own sanity and continued to enchant the plants with fire runes that would explode when they came into close proximity with ill will or anger. It was a pacifist spell at its core, but, in my experience, fire makes everything better and a few modifications to the spell gave the force rune a hot kick. I was worried though. Just down the valley, I could already see the sun glinting off the armor of the second raid coming in. 

We got lucky last time. Lolliyant snapped and got violent, but the way she acted afterwards, I wasn’t sure she would be much help if we needed to be more forceful than convincing. I wasn’t putting any trust in her. At least, I wasn’t going to. Lolliyant sat down next to me and broke my concentration on the rune I was working on. 

“Hey, uh, I never got your name,” she explained.
“Kiri,” I stated simply in an attempt to kill the conversation.
“Right, Kiri,” she said and paused for a moment, “Can we have a girl talk?”
“Girl talk?” I mocked, “About what?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she avoided and casually looked away, “Guys?”
“Oxle…” I muttered with a dim hatred.
There was a pause before Lolliyant spoke again, “No one in particular, you know. Just… Do you know if Oxle is seeing anyone?”
“Of course it’s Oxle,” I griped, “That man screws everything with a pulse.”
“Oh,” she sounded disappointed, “Really?” 

I realized that Lolliyant had something human in her then. It was a heart. Sadly, I couldn’t say if I still had mine or not, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to ruin what sympathy she had for humans. 

“No,” I admitted, “Not completely. He, uh…” 

Oxle grew up around bad people and he had a… well, a rough run in with a few of them and, despite his talk, he wasn’t a fan of intimate scenes, but it wasn’t my place to tell her about Oxle. 

“He only does… uh…” I paused, “that if he really means it.”
“Oh, that’s good to know,” she admitted with a slight nod.
“Okay,” I said as I picked my staff back up and continued my work on the runes, “Girl talk. Why is Oxle wet?” 

The meadow fell to silence as I could practically hear her blush. 

“I, uh,” she paused, “It’s not, uh- We didn’t- I’m going to go check on the guys.” 

I smirked. Maybe she was alright. Anyone that could get flustered that easily was human enough for me to respect. She had my blessing for… On second thought, I didn’t want to think about that. 

“Lolliyant,” I called before she could leave, “Is that gash on your arm getting better? If not, I am a pretty good healer.” 

She smiled and sat back down before putting her arm in front of me for me to work on. I pressed my staff to the wound and watched the scales reform at an unmatchable speed. 

“Why are you guys being so nice to me?” she asked.
“Am I being nice?” I countered. 

I genuinely didn’t think I was being nice, but I guess that, for a dragon, even the slightest courtesy would be seen as a rare act of kindness. 

“You know, you’re more human than you like to think,” I said.
“Thanks,” she smiled, “And even though you act like an insufferable bitc-,”
“I can stop healing you, ya know.”
She giggled before continuing, “You’re really a nice person.” 

It was nice to have a girl friend after hanging round with only guys for so long. James and Oxle were… well… they had their perks such as Oxle reminding me I have breasts and James requiring healing, but with Lolliyant, there was a more personal connection. Plus, I could bitch about the guys with her if I wanted to. Maybe it was the idea more than anything, but I wanted to keep her around. As I looked back to meadow and the second raid party marching through the valley, I decided that I needed to make a promise to myself. 

I swore to myself that day that I would help Lolliyant and make sure she felt like she belonged. As the second raid party approached from the valley, I could’ve sworn I saw Lolliyant smirk and… well, I did too.