Ch 10- Brotherhood

Rose went back to Tala's house after chewing apart Mac. Casey, Rose, and Tala sat down and the two Shera worked hard to make it as lively and warm as possible. After the meal was finished rose offered to walk Casey home. Casey politely refused and said he wanted to fly and think alone for a while. Around an hour later Casey flew back to Mac's house, he hesitated outside for a moment but he steeled his nerves and pushed the door open.

He walked inside and saw Mac sitting at the table and smiling at him. Casey was totally caught off guard by his smile and dazedly walked over and sat down. Abruptly realizing he was staring at Mac he hastily lowered his head and was surprised as he looked at the table. In front of Casey was a grand banquet, there was a variety of dishes, fruit, and desserts. Casey stared again and raised his head to look back at Mac.

Mac had kept his eyes on Casey since the moment he opened the door, seeing Casey look at himself with a face full of confusion and caution; he sighed internally.

"I'm sorry". Casey's eyes widened when he heard those words.

"Casey I'm sorry. I know I hurt you, I didn't mean to, but I know my actions have greatly affected you. I'm really sorry Casey".

Casey's eyes teared up and he sucked in a shallow breath through his nostrils while speaking in an aggrieved tone. "Can I ask why?". Casey raised his watery eyes to Mac, Mac saw this look and just as before felt that his heart was melting.

"You have every right to ask. All I can say is, that I was scared. I was scared that I'd become attached to you and wouldn't be able to cope when you leave. So I deliberately avoided you. It's not a good reason and I didn't think it'd hurt you so much. I really can't say it enough Casey; I'm sorry".

"Ha ha ha". The tears that were barely being contained rained down. "So it's not that you hated me or found me annoying. It's that you were scared of losing me?".

Mac watched Casey silently for a moment, "yes". For the first time in two weeks, Casey showed Mac a genuine, brilliant smile. "Mac I'm not going anywhere, now or in the future. I'll probably spend my life here with you all. You already said you'd be my family, so please don't take that back and turn away from me, because I'm scared of losing you too". Mac's hands on his lap clenched into tight fists and for the first time in many years, he felt his eyes heating up. He tried hard to hold back and restrain his weakness, but he felt so warm looking at this precious silver dragon.

Mac finally gave a soft chuckle. "I lose to you Casey, you've got me charmed. I made this meal to apologize and tell you I want our brotherhood back to how it was". Mac smiled, stood up, and walked over to Casey. He carefully picked him up and held him in his arms and attempted to feed him dinner.

Casey was a bit embarrassed to admit that he had already eaten so he allowed Mac to stuff himself until he felt like throwing up. Once they finished the meal, Mac went to clean up and poor Casey laid belly up on the couch groaning in discomfort.

After Mac finished washing everything he walked out of the kitchen and could hear Casey's groans, he dashed over and knelt on the ground beside the couch. "Casey, what's wrong with you?". Casey opened a slit in his eyes and glanced at Mac before stuttering out that his stomach hurt.

Mac thought he had overfed Casey and felt bad, he ran to his room and brought back out a bottle of stomach digestives. After feeding the medicine to Casey he picked him up and took him to his room and laid him on the bed. Mac gently touched his stomach and kneaded it softly for a while.

"Do you feel a bit better?". Casey was already starting to doze off, hearing Mac's words he barely nodded his head and soon fell asleep.

Mac held Casey in his arms for a while and enjoyed feeling the warmth and weight coming from his arms. He stared at the shiny scales and had no desire to put him down. Although he is the one who distanced himself Mac also felt a bit lonely and stifled trying to avoid Casey. So holding him in his arms again brought a unique comfort to Mac and he couldn't help smiling gently.

Mac stood up and grabbed Casey's ruby, and stuffed it between his claws. After Mac was satisfied watching, he laid Casey down and curled his body around Casey's, and held him close the whole night.

When Casey opened his eyes he was startled to see Mac's face right in front of his own. Casey was lost for a moment then he recalled their dinner and conversation, he felt a bit shy but ecstatic. For once he woke up earlier than Mac; it was the first time Casey had ever seen him asleep.

And he took a moment to carefully look over the contours of Mac's face. Mac had a rather stern-looking face when he didn't smile but Casey thought he was quite handsome. He always felt that the blue skin paired with silver hair and eyes was very striking and mesmerizing.

Casey looked down at his body then back at Mac, then himself again. "We're matching!". Casey giggled to himself as he thought their silver color was exactly the same and rolled happily in a ball, waking up Mac in the process.

Mac turned a bit and Casey stopped to watch him, he saw Mac groggily open his eyes. His silver eyelashes gently fluttered open and when he saw Casey he gave the gentlest smile Casey had ever seen; he could feel his heart starting to beat fast. Casey rushed a paw to cover Mac's eyes in his embarrassment. Mac's smile slowly turned to a smirk.

"Good morning Casey". Casey felt guilting for some reason and whispered "morning" back.

Mac reached out his arms and pulled Casey into his chest and rubbed his scales up and down. Casey's silver body flushed a light pink and after he could no longer stand it he shoved Mac away and flew into the bathroom; slamming the door shut. He could hear Mac's laughing from the other side of the door, he slowly sunk to the ground and covered his eyes with his tail. If Mac saw such a scene he may die from Casey's cuteness.

When the two sat at the breakfast table Mac asked Casey his plans for today. Casey pondered, "normally I would head to the fields. But I'd really like to stay by your side, is that okay?". Mac could see Casey's trepidation and gave in to him. "You can but today you have to do whatever I want, does that sound fair?".

Mac leaned his head against a hand and smiled at Casey softly. Casey watched him and lowered his head before making an "mhmm" sound.

So once they were done eating Mac picked up Casey and sat him on his shoulders and they headed out. Casey was curious about where Mac was going and soon had an answer; as they stood outside Rose's door. "Why are we here?" Mac looked at Casey and replied bluntly. "I know you were upset because of your spiritual power but I think you should keep trying and I figured if we learn from Rose together you'd feel more comfortable and motivated. So let's be students together, how bout it Casey?".

Casey felt touched by Mac's gesture, he pushed aside his work to motivate and support him; his tail started to sway in excitement. "Alright!".

When rose opened the door and saw the two of them she crossed her arms and had a smug smile on her face. Mac explained why they were there and she gladly took them in. So on this day, Mac stayed by Casey's side, holding and supporting him through everything they did. Whether it was rose's lesson, training, or making meals Casey was attached firmly to Mac's body, and the two chatted happily together most of the day.

When it was time for bed Mac took Casey into his room and handed him his ruby and got up to leave. "You're not gonna stay?". Mac looked at the claw holding the corner of his clothes and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I have work to do still, you go to sleep first. I'll join you later". Casey lowered his head.

"Can't you stay with me? Just today?". Mac couldn't help sighing as he looked at his clingy dragon and gave a slight smile as he lied down and dragged Casey back into his arms. Mac patted his head "now sleep". Casey nodded and as he focused on Mac's body heat he drifted to sleep.

Seeing Casey doze off Mac planned to go to work but as he was about to get up he felt dizzy and passed out by Casey's side.

When Casey opened his eyes he saw himself in an unfamiliar building. Casey felt scared, it was rather dark and damp in the place he was in, he cautiously surveyed the room. It smelled like mold and he could faintly hear water dripping, it felt like he was stepping on stones. Casey got the chills as he slowly walked towards the nearest door. He could see light coming from under the door so he slowly pushed it open.

Behind the door was a brightly lit corridor, it had doors lining both sides. The hall looked bright and clean, a complete contrast to the room Casey was previously in. But rather than comforting him, Casey felt even more scared. He walked around slowly, he perked his ears and paid attention to any sounds or movements as he looked for an exit.

Then his ears picked up a sound. "Thump thump thump". Casey could hear footsteps heading in his direction, he started to panic and looked for a place to hide. Unfortunately, the hall was completely empty with nothing he could hide behind; so Casey prayed and opened the nearest door to him rushing in.

All Casey saw was white, brown, and blue. The room itself was large and white, with no furniture or accessories to speak of. However, the walls and floor were painted in a rust-colored brown. Casey could tell by the look and smell that it was probably dried blood. Casey stared ahead and warily watched what was presumably the owner of the blood, a big blue dragon. The dragon's back was facing Casey while his head must be facing the wall. Casey noticed the dragon had chains wrapped around his large body.

Casey's whole body was shaking as he warily watched the other dragon, but he could still hear the footsteps getting closer. He turned to stare at the door and listened, he heard the steps slowing down as they stopped right in front of his door. Casey panicked and threw caution to the wind and flew to hide behind the dragon's huge body.

Casey tried to shrink his existence as much as possible but the blue dragon of course noticed him from the moment he entered the room. The dragon opened his eyes and surprise flashed through his pupils as he looked at Casey. Casey felt terrified and shrunk into a ball, shaking and crying.

At that moment the door screeched open and the blue dragon turned his head over to look and moved a paw to cover Casey.

"Hello Morrison, how are you feeling today?" The man who came in was wearing a white lab coat and showed the dragon a vibrant smile. "Some of our system alarms went off a few minutes ago, you didn't try to use spiritual power again did you?".

The dragon's eyes flashed as he heard the words, his body tensed and his claws around Casey flinched. "I have not used it, maybe one of your other experiments did".

The man didn't miss any of Morrison's small movements or actions. He showed a brilliant smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Tsk tsk tsk". "Morrison you know very well the punishment for using spiritual power and the punishment for lying don't you?".

"So why do both? Hmm?".

Morrison's body tensed even further to the point where Casey noticed and snapped out of his fear. He slowly processed what was happening as he listened to their conversation. He then realized this dragon was trying to hide him.

The man in the coat pulled out a Gamma energy light whip and hurled it straight toward Morrison As it hit his scales Morison grunted and quietly started to take the repeated strikes. Although Casey couldn't see what was happening he could hear the sound of the whip cutting the dragon's flesh, smell the burnt flesh, and hear the dragon's breathing becoming heavier.

Casey felt like his heart had been gripped as he recalled the dried blood stains covering the wall and floor of the room.

Morrison was focused on taking the lashing and Casey pushed his claw away and flew out towards the man in the coat and tried to tackle him. The man effortlessly dodged Casey and watched him quietly.

"Ha ha ha". The man laughed like a maniac and a real grin came to his face. "Well Morrison it looks like I really wronged you this time. Why didn't you say that we had an intruder using spiritual power?".

The man looked at Casey with shining eyes. Casey looked back at him with dull eyes, wishing this dream would just end already.